I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful. I know that full well                                         Psalm 139:14

Funny thing how we take healing for granted. Yes, we really do. How often have you had some malady- a cold, a sore muscle, a cut, a broken bone? Yes, most of us have had all of them at one time or another. Some people have had much more significant ailments- heart attacks, strokes, cancers- and have, with some treatment, recovered nicely.

Some of the maladies I mentioned above “heal on their own”. That cold, flu, sore muscle, cut, etc. healed without much, if any, medical intervention. Why is that? Because our bodies were made to be self-healing. Our immune system and our system of cell repair has been baked into our bodies by the Creator. He made a wonderful healing machine that we may often take for granted.

Yes, it is absolutely true that such healing will not take place forever. There will be a time when that body breaks down and ages to a point where the system can no longer operate as it was intended.

In the meantime, let us celebrate the everyday miracles of our “healing machine” bodies.

Prayer: Lord, what an amazing plan for your creation! Amen…

Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact,Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. 

Colossians 1:15-17 (Living Bible)

I have been fascinated by this passage for many years now. I think that this is not merely metaphorical language to describe Jesus as the Son of God and creator of the universe. I truly think that the Physics of this passage is amazing.

What do I mean by that? Well, my regular readers know of my fascination with science and Physics in particular. This despite the fact that I am only an admirer of such subjects, and not a scientist. I think that allows me to speculate on things without having to come up with a scientific basis. I just have the curiosity and joy of expounding my own ideas. How fun! So, here goes, given that caveat…

This passage states that everything is held together by Jesus. He is the First Cause of creation, and he is also the power that holds life together. Take the equation E = mc²                                                                     

We are familiar with this equation of Albert Einstein because it explains the amazing notion that energy and matter are interchangeable. Matter can be turned into energy, and energy can be turned into matter. We understand that fission and fusion, which are ways of changing the matter and structure of atomic particles, release tremendous amounts of energy when that change takes place. Similarly, in order for energy to be turned into matter, it takes an enormous input of energy to do that.

But what if Jesus, the Light of the World, indeed the author of light (energy) caused the making of all matter by that incredible Big Bang of creation? That energy still exists today because there is no new energy being produced or destroyed. That is the Law of the Conservation of Energy. The same energy that Jesus used in creation is now preserving that creation today. The very atoms of the universe are his energy in play still at this time.

So, Jesus rules the universe he created, and he maintains it literally in his presence in everything.

Yes, I can hear you now saying that this sounds like some weird heresy. It is a little different slant on how the universe is maintained, and it is just my ideation gone wild.

But I think it is fun, and I wanted to share my understanding of this amazing passage. Hope it gets you thinking! Thanks for indulging me!

Prayer: Lord, you are Creator and maintainer of this marvelous universe. You are the Lord of Creation! Amen

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.                            Matthew 6:13 (MEV)

If I sit next to a madman as he drives a car into a group of innocent bystanders, I can’t, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.                                Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I am not one who sees the devil under every rock when it comes to ascribing the basis of evil actions in the world. I try to pay very little attention to Satan, or devils, or any other manifestations of evil that we understand to be in this world. The old expression “give the devil his due”, does not sit particularly well with me, because I want nothing to do with the author of evil.

There is enough evil present in the world without ascribing it to Satan. Quite frankly, in my opinion, there are some evil people in this world. Evil is the determination to “get what I want at the expense of others”. Taken to extreme, it means killing, starving, torturing, and trying to exterminate others (such as genocide), for the gratification of personal or political power and gain. We saw it personified in Adolf Hitler.

I think evil is still alive and well, unfortunately, in 2023. When I see the terroristic targeting of churches, schools and hospitals in Ukraine by the Vladimir Putin directed Russian invaders, I see evil. Unfortunately, this perpetration of evil is now on page three or four of the daily newspaper, not the front page. The news cycle these days simply moves to the stories that will get people’s attention. The atrocities in Ukraine are now 17 months old, so they have been shifted from the headlines. When that happens, people tend to forget the horrors of the situation. We become inured to evil, the suffering of innocent people, and the threat of unchecked evil.

So, this is just a reminder- if you need it. Evil lurks in this world in the hearts of people. Let us be mindful of the statements of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as cited above, we cannot sit by and watch evil play out- we must call it out.

Prayer: Lord, deliver us from evil, Amen,

Give us this day our daily bread.                                                                       Matthew 6:11

As I went to a local farmer’s market today, I began to think about that phrase from the Lord’s Prayer- “Give us this day our daily bread…” In ancient times, there were no supermarkets, (obviously), no refrigeration, and no high-speed transportation to bring in food from long distances. People would go to a local market of some kind every day to shop for bread, fish, vegetables, oil, meat (if they were lucky or wealthy), or any other foodstuffs. There were no food preservatives, other than salting, smoking, or drying, and food generally needed to be consumed on the day or two after purchase.

So, when Jesus said that they should pray for their daily bread, he meant that they were to be reliant on God daily for subsistence. Individuals did not have capacity or availability of large amounts of food storage- they had to shop frequently for what they needed- they could store very little.

In our first-world picture of food supply, we have abundance, and typically, any given pantry, freezer and refrigerator fairly bulges with food. Unfortunately, our ultra processed food is abundant, but also nutritionally void, and often unhealthy for us. But it also tends to give us this false sense of food security, and may take us just a step or two away from daily dependence on God for our very food.

We are blessed with modern ways of shopping for, and storing food, but to the extent that it makes us feel less daily dependent upon God for it, we are that much poorer in spirit.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for our daily bread, Amen

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.                                                                  Philippians 4:19

Well, my dear readers, this has been quite a couple of weeks for my family! For regular readers, you are aware that as we were leaving our family vacation in South Carolina, my son-in-law had a stroke.  After the fact, we saw all the blessings of how circumstances could have been disastrous had some events happened a bit differently. My son-in-law is back home and healing nicely from this life-threatening event.

On our way back home, our car blew out a wheel bearing, causing us to make some large changes in travel plans, but we were able to get the car fixed and get home after a long ride (and a long delay). Again, what if we had not discovered the wheel bearing problem the way we did? Maybe we could have been stranded along the way at night in the storms we encountered, or worse, had a highway accident with loss of control. Looking back, we understood that God’s provision was there, even when we did not immediately see it. All we saw at the time were some miserable events that caused us pain and suffering.

Our pastor this past weekend had a sermon (we listened on the way home) on the Book of Joshua, regarding the crossing of the Jordan River. God’s provision for that crossing took place upstream at a place where the Israelites did not see God’s hand in the miracle.

So, isn’t it true that God’s provision usually takes place out of our sight? Only later do we see his hand in things we could not possibly understand or do for ourselves. The folks in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) have a saying- “God does things for us that we cannot do for ourselves.”

To that I simply say, Amen.

Prayer: Lord, we trust your hand, even when we do not immediately see it, Amen

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.                                                                                                                         Luke 5:12-13

I am always struck by how Jesus dealt with this leper who asked for healing. Jesus touched him. If there was ever a forbidden act in those times, it was to touch a leper. I think in that very act, Jesus not only healed the man of leprosy, he healed the man’s shame and isolation.                              

Human touch can be healing.

I was speaking with a client the other day about the long-term effects of maternal bonding and affection. Rather, I was pointing out that the lack of such primary nurture and cuddling can lead to failure to bond, and long-term effects such as feelings rejection and abandonment.

The classic study done in this area was that of Harry Harlow, who used macaques for some of his studies. The baby macaques were separated from their mother, and the mother was replaced by either a wire framework that resembled an adult macaque mother, or one with cloth that gave warmth and comfort to the touch. The babies gravitated to the “cloth mothers”, searching for reassurance and affection. The babies deprived of the “cloth mothers” grew up isolated socially, and unsure of their place in the framework of the macaque community.

The studies were controversial due to later questions of ethics in that the treatment of the animals could be considered cruel and inhumane. Some other studies of Harlow were also somewhat dubious in their approaches, but some valuable information was gleaned from the studies.

The need for touch and warmth at the earliest possible time in life is essential for attachment and proper development of affection.  We learn very quickly that we need loving touch to survive in this world. We learn, even before we have language, or brain capacities that are cognitively aware of our surroundings, that human touch is essential. It gives security in a world that is completely unknown. The earliest sensations of warmth and cuddling are critical in our development.

Let’s not diminish the need for physical touch and affirmation as we grow. While some people need such affirmation more than others, all of us need the grounding and anchoring, and indeed the validation that we physically need one another’s touch.

So, if you are a “hugger”, get your daily hug from your loved ones. It is good for you and them!

Prayer: Lord, you have given us the gift of healing, even in a loving touch, Amen

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts             Isaiah 55:8-9

In the past several days, due to the medical crisis I described in yesterday’s blog, we have been inundated with promises of prayer from dear friends and family. That is very reassuring and welcomed, and no doubt effective. Yet some aspects of intercessory prayer remain mystical to me.

For example, is it better to have 100 people praying rather than just a few? Does God count the number of prayers to determine his movement on the request? Can we, by our pleading, “change God’s mind” on things? These were just some of the rumblings in my head as people were praying for our family.

The answer is, I don’t know. I do believe that God wants our prayers as a connection to him. By interceding for one another, we are showing the love toward others that he wants from his people. In my opinion, prayer changes us, not necessarily the situation. God can do what he will. He is sovereign, and his ways are higher than mine, so who am I to question?

Prayer reminds us of who we are relative to the almighty God. Going to God in prayer is a reminder that we are a people of faith, and we live by faith, not by sight.  

Prayer: Yes, Lord, I trust that you want connection with us. What an amazing thing, Amen

Life can change…just like that! As my family was returning from vacation, my healthy, athletic 48-year-old son-in-law had a stroke while driving his family home. Just like that, life has changed for my daughter and grandchildren. Fortunately, we are anticipating that he is going to have a full recovery, but it will take rehabilitation work and time.

We were struck by a fact that we know, but we tend to not really consider until it actually happens- that life can change in literally seconds. But my daughter, who has wisdom and an indomitable spirit, quickly saw the positives of what had happened- namely, had the stroke happened just a little later in the trip, there could have been disastrous results. The medical care that my son-in-law received immediately saved untold physical damage to him.

My daughter saw another positive aspect when the family received overwhelming emotional and spiritual support- immediately. Some of my readers know details about how this all happened, but many do not. I share this story to also relay another powerful reminder. While life can change in seconds, friendship, support, prayers, and encouraging notes endure.

Thanks to those readers who knew this situation and reached out to us in beautiful ways. There is still a long road to recovery, but that road was made smoother by love, prayers and the warmth of friends and family.

As many have noticed, I have not posted for the past day or two because I am on vacation! I really appreciate the support and encouragement I receive from my readers, and I would encourage you, for the next week or so, to dig into the extensive archives of www.reflectionsofacounselor.com to read some past blogs.

So, thanks for your support, and maybe you can take a little vacation as well!

Blessings,

John

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.                  Philippians 2:3-4

I have written in this space in the past about the Hippocratic Oath that physicians typically take in one form or another. The Oath has been around for many centuries, and the intent is to provide an ethical framework for those in the helping professions.

The phrase, First, Do No Harm, is actually not a part of the Hippocratic Oath, but the concept it embodies, non-maleficence, is a concept very well known to all in the helping professions. In other words, whatever you do, or don’t do, make sure that it is not harmful to the one whose care is entrusted to you. The first duty of those who are in positions of trust is to do no harm.

 Now, wouldn’t it be great if every profession were to subscribe to that simple concept? Can you imagine if media organizations were to adopt that creed? Oh, this is a good one- what if politicians were to adopt that principle? Can you imagine if politicians were prohibited from trying to do harm to their opponents? What if they were ethically prevented from name calling or slandering, or shading the truth about things?

Well, in the real world, that does not, and unfortunately will not happen, but I just wanted to consider the idea out loud. Shouldn’t we have some kind of ethical boundaries for those in elected office? We do entrust them to make good decisions when we elect them, and they do swear an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

Too bad they don’t swear to an ethical set of behaviors that honors and dignifies even those with whom they disagree.

Prayer: Lord, help us all to first do no harm to others, Amen