Image via WikipediaA calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy and wrath are as rottenness of the bones. Proverbs 14:30
It is interesting to note that there are many references in the bible to remaining calm. As a matter of health, stress and anxiety are very destructive to our physical well being. But one thing I find interesting here, beyond the idea of the effects of these emotions, is that the scripture makes a differentiation between having a calm and undisturbed mind as well as a calm and undisturbed heart.
If we look at the research that the HeartMath Institute has provided regarding the heart and mind, they found it very clear that the heart and mind are separate in function. They also have indicated that the heart has a "mini brain". It contains at least 40,000 neurons. It also has the capacity to control the brain rather than the brain controlling the heart. Electromagnetically speaking, the heart is much more powerful than the brain. This is one of the reasons that we find we can change our mind rather easily, but deep, heartfelt belief systems are much more difficult to change.
As this scripture tells us to make sure that we not only calm our stress levels with regard to our minds and hearts, it also tells us several emotions that have an effect on our bones. Envy, jealousy and anger have detrimental effects on our physical well being. Why? Dr. A.F. Beddoe states in his book "Biologic Ionization As Applied to Human Nutrition" that 80% of all illness begins with holding on to negative emotion. Negative emotion tends to create a more acidic environment in the body which leads to disease and the breakdown of healthy physical functioning. In this case, the Word specifies the bones.
We must always remember that we were created by a wise and compassionate Creator. In His instruction book, he would not leave out instructions pertaining to the health and functioning of the wonderful and complex physical bodies that he provided us with.
