Speaking of Spirit

The date of 9/11 is one that lives in infamy. The pain of that day is still palpable for us. However, what I would like to share today is the memory of the days after. I vividly remember hearing about the attack to the towers. I was in the basement of the doctor's office where I worked as a wellness practitioner for York Hospital. My daughter called hysterical. I did what I could do to calm her. After I hung up, I began to feel fear like I have never known before or since. However, there were patients waiting for me and I couldn't abandon them. I left the office praying for a sign that all would be well. As I crossed the parking lot, I saw one of the bushes that days before was a mass of twigs, in bloom.  Puzzled, I took a closer look. The bush was covered in Monarch butterflies. Instantly, I felt peace pour through me.  As the day wore on and the during the days immediately following, I saw and heard about so many acts of compassion and kindness that my heart overflowed. In t...

This past week has been the most difficult many of us have ever experienced. We are worried and fearful because of the constant threat of the COVID virus. Yet, in the face of fear and uncertainty, there have been many acts of selflessness and compassion. As the writer of Matthew says above, can worrying give you anything more in life?  Worry does nothing more than sap us of energy - energy that could be used to help ourselves and others.  Being worry-free does not mean we do not care or that we are unaware. Rather, being worry-free is the realization that something needs our attention, that we might be uncertain of what to do, but whether alone or together, we will face the challenges ahead. A Prayer for Our Time Masterful Physician of Life,  we come to You in this time, when fear lingers, like hungry animals on the outskirts of the forest. We come to You in this time, when uncertainty blows, like an icy wind that paralyzes everything it touche...

Talk to the Hand (c) 2019 Linda M. Rhinehart Neas Did you know that holding grudges can make you sick? In a New York Times article, Tim Herrera talks about how people keep grudges and how this can cause them serious illness.  The opposite of a grudge is forgiveness. Forgiveness is the gift you give yourself. There are very good reasons why I say this.  Dr. Frederic Luskin, founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project said,  "Holding onto a grudge really is an ineffective strategy for dealing with a life situation that you haven’t been able to master. That’s the reality of it. Whenever you can’t grieve and assimilate what has happened, you hold it in a certain way.  “If it’s bitterness, you hold it with anger. If it’s hopeless, you hold it with despair. But both of those are psycho-physiological responses to an inability to cope, and they both do mental and physical damage.  “The hopelessness shuts down and dampens immune response, leads to som...