Loose Threads

Choosing a title for this stage of my journey, I had the visual of a handful of loose threads hanging freely in the air while waiting to be woven into the fiber of my life. I lived through these threads/experiences, considering them to be unrelated to each other...until years later when I saw how they had individually played a part in helping create the person I am today.

The first occurrence brings me back to the Procedure Room where my dad peeked in to help give me the courage to face the task ahead of me. I think I described it as an icky procedure that involved a fine set of stitches on the inside of my leg, right at the bend of the knee. My doctor explained that this was an especially tricky place for stitches due to the constant bending, so he asked me to carefully limit my knee movement. Being a first grade teacher meant that I was active throughout the day, so I knew that would be a nearly impossible task.

I had recently been a silent participant in a group discussion about our ability to quiet the body and invite God's energy to help in the healing process. I wasn't able to contribute to the conversation because it was a new idea for me and I first needed to process all this information before I could begin to formulate a comment. Now two weeks later, I was literally being given the opportunity to put this into practice. Each day I would sit on my sofa, taking a few deep cleansing breaths while inviting healing energy to surround and penetrate the wound. I was easily able to hold my hand over the bandages,visualizing this energy as a warm glowing light. I would quietly sit like this for a few short minutes and then whisper a prayer of gratitude. I could repeat this several times throughout each day since it took hardly any time to do.

When I returned to have the stitches removed, my doctor was delighted with how well the wound had healed. He wondered what I had done and commented that I could give lessons to his other patients on how to heal. Sitting there on the examination table I felt a bit awkward and unsure of what to say to him...this was a whole new way for me to think about healing. So after making small talk, I headed home with a feeling of wonder and delight and of course lots and lots of questions to ponder. How I wish I had again been able to touch into the same sense of wonder and delight just a few short months later...