The Mystery of Healing
The Mystery of Healing
We have to accept the fact that there are some things about healing that are pure mystery.
When I worked, as a nurse, in the school health office, every day children would come to the office to have a flesh wound taken care of. This would entail some assessment of the wound, cleansing and bandaging the wound, sometimes having the wound seen by a private physician, if it was severe, and of course, comforting the young patient who was often crying or upset. I would say that I became quite an expert in this field. Our skin is very soft and delicate in childhood and does not respond well to scraping against hard blacktop playgrounds or cement sidewalks. As I comforted each child and cared for their wound, I sometimes reminded them that in a few days, or sooner, this “boo-boo” would heal itself. Nothing to do but keep it clean and dry and nature will do the rest. It just does it! Scientists know the mechanics behind healing but we can’t consciously control it. We can imagine the healing and support the healing but we can’t make it go away immediately or not leave a mark, we just have faith that the innate wisdom and genius of our bodies mixed with some mystery of the universe causes the wound to heal.
This leads us to the need to have compassion for ourselves and empathy which comes from a neutral place, where we can objectively listen or observe a deeper wound, pain, disability, or dis-ease. It may be physical, spiritual, energetic or psychological. From there we can become aware of it, observe what is happening, see if it needs some kind of treatment, comfort and/or support. After we have done all we can do as humans we will need to “let go and let God” from a place of trust, faith and peace, knowing that it will all be ok and possibly even better as in the Japanese art of Kintsugi, in which the broken item is repaired with gold laquer. This healing practice improves the item by giving it character and integrity, as we also benefit from healing by becoming more resilient and compassionate.