The first principle of the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO), which it says is basic to the happiness, harmonious relationships, and security of all peoples, is:

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Acknowledging that health is not merely the absence of disease is of central importance, for health is cognate with whole and holy. So, we cannot be fully healthy until Life has healed our fragmented minds and split psyches in Wholeness, knowing that we are never separate from the Divine for an instant.

But, as we are all the products of dozens of generations of cultural conditioning and  billions of years of divergent evolution, it is most uncertain to what extent we could realize our transfinite potential as a species before our inevitable extinction.

At best, we could notice the absence of spiritual health in WHO’s Constitution and collectively focus attention on existential health, as the basis of pastoral care, as some Christian psychotherapists and scholars in Sweden have been doing for the past few decades.

For how otherwise can the younger generations find a meaning and purpose in life, knowing that they are not destined to grow into old age, no matter what changes they are able to make in their understanding of humanity’s place within the overall scheme of things.