Health, Healing and Wholeness
We cannot think of healing or be a part of it without reflecting upon the Author and Finisher of our healing and our faith. Theologian Krister Stendahl has written, “God’s agenda is the mending of creation.” Mending is an expression for God’s total love toward suffering humanity, of which healing is one aspect. We can say that God’s healing light, which was revealed by Jesus Christ, has always been in the world, an indication of God’s life-giving and sustaining concern. Jesus promised that we would do greater works than he did (John 14:12). The rhythm of preaching, teaching, and healing runs all through Christ’s ministry. All of life is interrelated and tied to health. An individual human being is an integrated totality of body, mind, and sprit. The health of a human being is affected by the various conditions and influences that are a part of life. Jesus not only was concerned about healing a person whose body showed signs of physical illness, he also dealt with relationships within the person, between the person and God, the person and neighbor and the person and the world. Our own experience with relationships and intimacy provides us with evidence that human life is whole, not fragmented. Relationships are holistic and therefore a dimension of health. (Westberg, 1990).

The Ministry of Nursing
Nursing is a sacred ministry of health care or health promotion provided to persons both sick and well, who require care giving, support, or education to assist them in achieving, regaining, or maintaining a state of wholeness, including wellness of body, mind, and spirit. The nurse serves those in need of comfort and care to strengthen them in coping with the trajectory of a chronic or terminal illness, or with experiencing the dying process. (Prince, 1954; Lindberg, Hunter, & Kruszewiski, 1994). The spiritual dimensions relate to two concepts: first, the sacred ministry of caring on the part of the nurse; and second, the ultimate goal of the patient’s achievement of a state of wholeness, including the wellness of body, mind, and spirit. (Mary Elizabeth O’Brien, 1999).