Spiritual Lessons from a Colonoscopy

I had my first ever colonoscopy this past week. Oh boy! I was kind of dreading it, but in the end (pun intended), it wasn't all that bad. Plus, it gave me inspiration for this blog!

Through the whole process of scheduling it, anticipating it, preparing for it, and then actually going through it, I discovered that there are several spiritual lessons from a colonoscopy. So, what follows is my attempt to let you all in on what I learned from this not-so-pleasant medical procedure.

First, I learned that sometimes it's best to just do it! My family practice doctor had advised me during the past five years to get a colonoscopy. Only recently did I decide to do it. My doctor had my best health interests in mind when recommending this procedure. He wanted me to discover if there was something crappy (pun intended) in my body that could lead to unwanted health troubles. Our medical profession has universally determined that on or around your 50th birthday is the ideal time to get your first colonoscopy. I was about five years late.

So, what's the spiritual lesson here? Well, how often has someone with authority in your life (a parent, a pastor, a mentor, an older brother or sister, etc.) suggested that it's time to take care of something really important in your spiritual life and you have chosen to ignore them (even though you might suspect they are probably right)? How often has someone you admire advised you to do something so that you can avoid unwanted problems later in life, but you chose to completely disregard what they've said (at least for awhile)? Sometimes it's best to just do it. Listen to that authority in your life and do what they are telling you to do, knowing that they really do have your best interests at heart.

Second, I learned that it takes a great amount of concentration to completely clean out stuff that gets in the way of improved health. Before I could have a colonoscopy, I had to put my normal routine aside and get prepared for it. It's just not possible to make a spur-of-the-moment decision to have a colonscopy. There is quite a regimen to go through approximately 12-16 hours ahead of the actual procedure. Some might even call it drastic! But, medical experts have determined this to be the best way of getting accurate results and save them from a lot of mess (ew!) while doing the procedure.

So, what's the spiritual lesson here? If you really want to know what is going on in your spiritual life, you just can't discover that without concentrating on it for awhile, taking time to clean out stuff that has built up inside of you over time. For improved spiritual health, it requires both a good amount of time and focused concentration. You may even need to do something drastic (like a complete TV/media/cell phone fast and/or immersion into good reading material for a time). Don't fool yourself into thinking that improved spiritual health will happen without a lot of time and concentration. It won't.

Third, I learned that I needed to allow myself to trust others, as well as partner with someone through the process. When I went in for the colonoscopy, I had to pretty much entrust my life (at least temporarily) to several people I didn't even know. I had to trust that they were capable of doing what they were about to do and that they'd have my best interests at heart. I also needed to have someone there with me for the procedure so that when it was all done they could drive me home. The good news is that the place where I had the colonoscopy was very professional. They seemed to really know what they were doing. They were all extremely nice and seemed to be very accustomed to helping people like me through this process. They knew exactly how to make it as painless as possible for me (yay!). The other good news is that I had the wonderful blessing and companionship of my life partner, Ellen, there with me, praying for me throughout the whole experience (thanks, sweetie!). Praise God for that! I couldn't have done it without her!

So, what's the spiritual lesson here? We all are going to need to trust others for help once in awhile. We should not try to do everything independently, all by ourselves. Improved spiritual health frequently requires others who are highly skilled at helping people, coming alongside us for awhile to do what we really can't do for ourselves. But, we need to make sure they are people we can trust first. Once that trust has been established, then we need to let those professionals (pastors, counselors, church leaders, etc.) do what they are highly trained to do. It also helps a great deal to have a trusted partner alongside you in the process of spiritual health discovery and healing. They can give you perspective and help you when the professionals are done with their part. It really takes a team effort to improve your spiritual health. That's why local church fellowship and having other Christ followers in our life is so important.

Yes, there are a lot of spiritual lessons from a colonoscopy. Actually, there are a lot of spiritual lessons in other places in our daily lives, too. But, you have to be looking for them to discover them...