Inner Healing

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Alan Cohen, compassion, external actions, freedom, God, healing, ills, inner methods, justice, psalm 146, solemn promises, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unbroken faith, wounds

There is a subtle theme of healing in what I have read this morning, first in an alternate reading of Psalm 146 and then in a quote from Alan Cohen. There is so much to be healed in the world right now that seems impossible to correct that I continue to be drawn to working on inner methods rather than external actions. The psalm and its commentary seem to me to segue into Cohen’s thought and give me an impetus for the flow of my day.

PS 146:5-8 The infinite source of heaven and earth and brimming seas keeps unbroken faith and solemn promises. For the downtrodden God is justice; for the hungry God is food. For those in prison God is freedom; all our blindness God can cure. God’s compassion flows to the broken hearted and seeks out those whose ways are just, for God loves the stranger in our midst and holds the widows and the orphans close.

COMMENTARY: This Psalm speaks not merely of personal wounds, but of political and social wounds and ills as well. To sing a song of healing for the world is part of the redemptive work that human beings are called to. Do you see yourself as a healer?

COHEN: Do what is healing for your spirit and without effort you will offer the world healing in return. (prayer) Direct me to the work that will feed my soul that I may feed others as well.

Recognize Your Potential!

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compassion, faith, freedom, healing, Henri Nouwen, ills, joy, justice, miracles, political, poor, psalm 146, social, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, turbulence, wounded healers

At this mid-point in the season of Advent, we are reminded by Psalm 146 of the enormity God’s power to heal our ills and, if we are willing, our potential for participation in healing the world. I am not speaking here of the “miracles of modern medicine” – which are, of course, extraordinary. The psalm focuses on deeper issues in our lives and includes political and social ills that need healing as well. One translation expresses it as follows.

For the downtrodden, God is justice, for the hungry, God is food. For those in prison, God is freedom; all our blindness God can cure. God’s compassion flows to the broken-hearted and seeks out those whose ways are just, for God loves the stranger in our midst and holds the widows and the orphans close. God delights in overthrowing evil. The reign of God shall know no end; it spans the generations. Hallelujah! (vs. 6-9)

I often think, when reading messages like this, of our Sisters who have served in very poor countries in times of turbulence – like Central America in the 1980’s – and how they often spoke of the deep joy of the people in the midst of their troubles. It was faith in God and the strength of their communities that allowed joy to be the stronghold of their lives. Thus, they became what spiritual writer, Henri Nouwen, called “wounded healers” to one another. This morning’s commentary asks how we are or can become the same. How can I – how can you – participate in the healing of our world today?