Tag Archives: healing
Home is not where
“Home is not where, it is whom.” -Christianne Dettmann As most readers have figured out by now, I’m no longer posting two weeks in advance, but taking it day by day as I am able. Since my days are mostly spent in hospitals lately, I have a bit of a one-track mind. In any case, …
Following the paths
“If you are ill or facing adversity, you can begin to heal yourself by following the paths others have followed. Forgive yourself and others, live with hope, faith and love and watch the results in your life and in the lives you touch. Remember that success and healing refer to what you do with your …
Remembering: How the light gets in
Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in. — Leonard Cohen Update for 11-12-13: After 365 different posts, this one remains one of my very favorites. I have had that quote on my refrigerator for years. And the photo of …
We must free ourselves
“We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds.” — Aristotle Onassis Whatever else might be said of Aristotle Onassis, he certainly learned to make the most of adverse circumstances. His family’s experiences could have led him into poverty. Instead he became one …
Brilliantly disguised
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities, brilliantly disguised as impossible situations…” — Charles Swindoll I will always remember the first time I saw this quote. It was fairly recently, in an email I got from an extraordinary person, Dr. Anitha John. She specializes in adult congenital cardiology, a relatively new field …
The cure for anything
“The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea.” —Isak Dinesen The more I think about Dinesen’s quote, the more true it seems. Not that I’m fond of sweat or tears, but I have lived long enough to know that both are usually beneficial, no matter how unwelcome. But the sea? Now that’s my …
Just three days
“Earth’s saddest day and gladdest day were just three days apart!“– Susan Coolidge The gospel story of Jesus and his victory over death was foreshadowed centuries earlier, and not only in the writing of the Old Testament prophets. In the book of Psalms we find this hopeful verse: “Weeping may endure for a night, but …
Within our reach
“The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. Take joy!” — Attributed to Fra Giovanni Giocondo This blog gives me an excuse to spend time reading from the wealth of inspiring, encouraging and remarkable writings that have accumulated over centuries. Much of what I read — …
God’s medicine
“Mirth is God’s medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it.” — Henry Ward Beecher As Norman Cousins famously demonstrated, laughter really is the best medicine. It can break through the gloom and lift the heart more quickly than any other remedy. Years ago while we lived in Ohio, we were coping with the worrisome heart defects …
Wonders of everyday life
“Remember, looking at bad news doesn’t mean good news isn’t happening. It’s happening everywhere. It’s happening right now. Around the world. In hospitals, at weddings, in schools and offices and maternity wards, at airport arrival gates, in bedrooms, in inboxes, out in the street, in the kind smile of a stranger. A billion unseen wonders …
Sparkling colors
“…let’s stay in the loop and pursue the momentous flow of daily little wonders, since life kindly tenders us gorgeous bouquets of sparkling colors, telling signs and rousing episodes.” — Erik Pevernagie So when I was putting this post together, I kept thinking maybe I should call this blog “Defeat Despair with Flowers.” But then …
Precious document
“The most precious document in the world is a clean bill of health.” — Ashleigh Brilliant I just got out of the hospital, where I spent most of last week. It’s ironic that last week’s post was about not feeling sorry for oneself, because that pre-scheduled post published on a day when I was feeling …
A tree in a story
“Victor Frankl whispered in my ear all the same. He said to me I was a tree in a story about a forest, and that it was arrogant of me to believe any differently. And he told me the story of the forest is better than the story of the tree…I asked God to help …
A willingness to wander
“The thing about healing, as opposed to curing, is that it is relational. It takes time. It is inefficient, like a meandering river. Rarely does healing follow a straight or well-lit path. Rarely does it conform to our expectations or resolve in a timely manner. Walking with someone through grief…requires patience, presence, and a willingness …
Like of each thing, 2016
This seems a most fitting post for me to re-blog, as I try to see through tear-dimmed eyes whatever gifts are there for me in this season of my life. Ann, the photo of Pasha is for you! And Happy Birthday to my dear friend Nancy, whose home was always open to Jeff and me …
On foot
“Sickness comes on horseback, but goes away on foot.” — William Carew Hazlitt Seemingly out of nowhere, it hits– the devastating diagnosis, or the catastrophic accident, or the debilitating chronic pain– shattering the life of a loved one, or self. Life changes– sometimes forever. We feel blindsided, helpless, resentful, afraid. But somehow, we keep going. …
To you today
“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.” — Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King’s words continue to inspire us because his message was timeless. In the face of centuries of oppression …
All the magic
“The Sussex lanes were very lovely in the autumn. I started going for long lone country walks among the spendthrift gold and glory of the year-end, giving myself up to the earth-scents and the sky-winds and all the magic of the countryside which is ordained for the healing of the soul.” — Monica Baldwin Saturday …
Solaced and refreshed
“My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.” ― Martin Luther I connect with a lot of things Martin Luther said, but none more than this quote. There is nothing quite like music to soothe, heal, cheer, console or bring cathartic tears. Music …
From a single source
“At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer.” — Rachel Naomi Remen Often we think of art as something that hangs in a frame on a wall, but in reality the work of countless artists surrounds us so …
Home is not where
“Home is not where, it is whom.” -Christianne Dettmann As most readers have figured out by now, I’m no longer posting two weeks in advance, but taking it day by day as I am able. Since my days are mostly spent in hospitals lately, I have a bit of a one-track mind. In any case, …
Following the paths
“If you are ill or facing adversity, you can begin to heal yourself by following the paths others have followed. Forgive yourself and others, live with hope, faith and love and watch the results in your life and in the lives you touch. Remember that success and healing refer to what you do with your …
Remembering: How the light gets in
Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in. — Leonard Cohen Update for 11-12-13: After 365 different posts, this one remains one of my very favorites. I have had that quote on my refrigerator for years. And the photo of …
We must free ourselves
“We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds.” — Aristotle Onassis Whatever else might be said of Aristotle Onassis, he certainly learned to make the most of adverse circumstances. His family’s experiences could have led him into poverty. Instead he became one …
The cure for anything
“The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea.” —Isak Dinesen The more I think about Dinesen’s quote, the more true it seems. Not that I’m fond of sweat or tears, but I have lived long enough to know that both are usually beneficial, no matter how unwelcome. But the sea? Now that’s my …
