LET
THE WAVES WASH OVER ME
Robert Trabold
In the distance, I
hear noise
waves crashing onto
the surf
washing over sand.
They are constant -
unending
sand is washed -
washed.
So white - clean!
I pray!
I want waves to wash over me.
I too need washing – healing
past memories of the hard times
in my life
suffering – abandonment – treason.
I sit at shore - let waves
wash over me.
Let them wash away - heal
memories
images – faces – voices.
As the water recedes, sand is at
peace
clean.
I need same peace – rebirth –
cleanliness!
Sea is grace of God
divine water will wash me – wipe
away
heal biting memories.
Hurt will lessen – peace
will come to me
washed sand is always new
my hope also!
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HEALING AND
MEDITATION
Robert Trabold
The relationship between meditation
and healing ultimately goes back to the New Testament where one aspect of
Jesus’ work was to travel through Galilee
doing wonders and healing people of their sicknesses. There are numerous
stories in the gospels describing Jesus reacting to sick people, such as,
healing the lepers, laying his hands on individuals and his touch healing
people with all kinds of illnesses, curing the paralytic at the pool who waited
many years for a miracle and ultimately also raising people from the dead, such
as, the son of the widow of Naim. Jesus was manifesting the mercy of God who
lifts us up and heals us of our illnesses. This ministry of Jesus was not
particular to Him because we know of the work of numerous wandering preachers
in Galilee around this time who had a similar ministry of healing people.
When we get close to the Lord and
experience His presence in contemplative prayer, it is a time for us to ask His
help in healing our own infirmities. Since we are in intimate contact with
Jesus in meditation, we pray also for other sick people asking Him to extend
his mercy and heal them. In this way, we are continuing the ministry of Jesus
which expressed itself in the years of his work in Galilee .
A startling example of the healing ministry of Jesus is a visit to the large
pilgrimage shrines in the world, such as, Lourdes Portugal
A more direct and particular
connection between healing and mediation is manifested in contemplative prayer.
As we grow in our contemplative path and enter into the silence and peace of God’s
presence, our defense mechanisms go down and feelings and emotions of our past
life emerge into our consciousness. They
have been buried possibly many years and now come into our awareness. We are
bombarded with these past emotions and find it hard to rest in God’s presence.
We must now ask God to heal us of these feelings and help us let go of them so
that we can have the peace in our conscious and unconscious self to enter into
a union with the divine which is the goal of contemplative prayer. These feelings
and emotions can be very old and go back into our childhood and they are the
baggage we carry in our unconsciousness due to our being human.
For example, we may have within our
unconsciousness feelings of hurt and anger from the various injustices and hard
and difficult things people have done to us in our life. With such pains, we
all experience it hard to forgive and we hold grudges. Secondly, we may be
haunted with our own mistakes in life, missed opportunities to love, our
constant pride and selfishness – all things that we find it hard to face.
Thirdly, as humans, we like to dominate and control the things that come into
our life. We get angry when things do not go our way; we cannot let go. In face
of such emotions and others which are part of our life, we ask Jesus to heal us
of these and discard them. He is the one who can cure us of these deep emotions
and give us the strength to let them go. We will then have a new freedom to
grow in a peace within ourselves so that we can enter the divine union which is
the goal of contemplative prayer. This healing can take a long time because
these feelings and experiences may be deeply embedded in our unconsciousness.
It can also be that we have to consult a counselor who can help us come to
grips with these emotions. We may need to talk them out with someone so that
eventually we can let go of them and be healed of their disturbing presence. It
depends on how serious they are and what damage and upheaval they caused in our
past.
As a result, the healing that takes
place in contemplative prayer is a particular one dealing with our emotions and
feelings that we carry with us in our unconscious. This is part of the human
condition and we can look forward to Jesus to help us unload these and to get
rid of this unwanted psychological baggage in our life. In contemplative
prayer, we are participating in a very definite divine therapy. Jesus is
working to make us free people so that we can have the peace and tranquility to
enter into union with Him. It is just another dimension and aspect of His
healing ministry that we see in the New Testament.
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