Pilgrim's Progress column with Philip Hobday: Taking care of ourselves and others

T his month the church celebrates St Luke, who wrote two books of the New Testament and is called ‘the beloved physician’ because he was a doctor. Perhaps understandably he is the patron saint of doctors. He was also thought to be a painter, painting the first picture of the Virgin Mary, so he is the patron saint of artists. For less obvious reasons, he is also the patron saint of brewers and glassmakers!

When we talk about health, we most often think of physical health – we might eat healthily, take exercise, see the doctor if we’re unwell, go to the hospital if we need surgery or tests. But human beings aren’t just bodies. The health of our minds matters, too. In purely financial terms, we lose around five per cent of our national income because of poor mental health. But of course the cost is more than just financial: lives, relationships, communities suffer when mental health suffers too. Most of us will experience moments of loneliness, anxiety, or grief in our lives; and for some of us these things have a great impact on us over many years.

Taking care of ourselves and others is really important, minds as well as bodies. Just as we think about eating better or going for exercise for our bodies, feeding and exercising our minds is important too. St Luke understood this, because over and again in the stories he tells, he shows us people who aren’t just healed physically but who are welcomed back into a community. The Christian vision is of people who live and work together, supporting each other and caring for each other, looking after themselves and each other, body and mind.

Philip Hobday, Dean of Wakefield