Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Hypocondria
* Scripture: Jesus said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." Matthew 9:23, NKJV

Ah! The things you learn when you take the time to check them out. I was all set to use the word "hypochondriac," and went to my in-computer dictionary to verify the spelling and usage. I have always heard the word used to describe someone who imagines that they have all sorts of illnesses. Surprise! All that I got was:
"of, relating to, or being the two regions of the abdomen lying on either side of the epigastric region and above the lumbar regions."
Have you any idea where that is? As I sometimes say to medically oriented acquaintances, "What is that in plain English?" Under the cartilage of the breast bone, that's where! Now what?
Well, dig the dusty old tome from the shelf, and there it is: "A morbid condition, formerly supposed to have its seat in those parts, characterized by depressed spirits, fancies of ill health, etc." (The New Century Dictionary, 1927)
Anyway, I was wondering if there is a name for the reverse condition, anti-hypochondria. A belief that there is nothing wrong with yourself, when there is.
The reason for the statement by Jesus, quoted above, was made in reference to a complaint/question by the ever-present Pharisees concerning the company Jesus kept: namely, tax collectors and sinners.
If ever a group personified anti- hypochondria, the Pharisees would be likely candidates. "Nothing wrong with us, but the rest of the world is sick." And, naturally, the healthy want nothing to do with sick people, including tax collectors and sinners. And, by association, Jesus?
Imagine what the world would be like if physicians and medical practitioners didn't want to come into contact with sick people.
Imagine what the world would be like if the church DID want to come into contact with the spiritually sick - just as Jesus did.
At one point, described in Luke 4:16 - 30, Jesus faced doubts as to his ability to "proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." He quotes the proverb, "Physician, heal yourself!" and points out that it is not the physician, but rather, the patient - his home country - that prevents healing from taking place.
True, we Christians are not perfect spiritual physicians, for all have fallen short of the Glory of God, so a little spiritual hypochondria (humility) might not hurt us.
What is keeping us, though, from going to the "sick' and bringing them to the great spiritual physician?
February 19, 2006