I got some plans to do today but God has the last word so I would start by sitting quietly in the chapel and let God leads me throughout the day. I brought a book with me, called Hope for Healing by George Leach. I have no idea what this book has to offer but the title sounds interesting.
It is interesting. I read it halfway until lunchtime and was mesmerized by the power of the writings in this book. I love the way it described God as our ultimate healer; through the scriptures about Jesus as the real action of God’s healing for us, through the real life people that has been healed, and through the world that is going around. There are some inspiring poems in the book which guide me to the rhythm of God’s tender messages for me. I want to be healed. I want to be a healer for people. I put my hope for a healing.
I’m glad I found this book.
So much personal suffering and hidden pain exist around us, indeed in many of us. Admit or not to admit; our world needs so much healing, our country needs so much healing, we need so much healing. We all need to be healed and we can be somebody else’s healer. But how?
I believe that healing is the action of love. If we can feel ‘the love’, we can be healed and be a healer. Love is not only expressed through a relationship between human being but also through any bits and pieces of this world. If we love our world – our country, we will do something. We will do something for it, we will begin to realize that we are a part of it and we want it to be healed. If we are a healer for our world – for our country, as a part of it – we will be healed as well. We may be doing something that is invisible and resulting no greater effect, but believe me that no action is too small if we are doing it with love.
We are probably thinking that doing something for the country or the world is way beyond imagination, but how about the healing for our neighbor? There are so many wounded people around us. They need to be healed and we can help them to be a healer.
The inspiring poems in the book I mentioned earlier, some can be read below:
Page 84.
There is so much pain around us, an aching in all
Cultures are shifting; countries are struggling;
families are paining; individuals are suffering;
the change and flux is gigantic.
What do we do?
There is a natural tendency to avoid pain,
to pop a pill for everything,
to ignore suffering in others,
to withdraw,
to build my own little world.
There is another stirring in our heart,
another call from within to with-out.
There is another invitation to live, not just with,
but beyond personal pain.
to work, not just for the outcast, but to love Him.
ebb and flow...
ascending and descending...
in and out...
to pray about,
around,
through these sufferings.
Page 87.
The call for each of us is the same mystery of love---
Living and dying,
Giving and reviving,
Aching and rejoicing,
Of having sighs that come straight from our hearts,
Of feeling the cost and the joy of love.
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I had the last session with Marlene earlier this morning. She gave me some beautiful poems and a thank you card. Later on when I was in the chapel, she dropped by and gave me a CD full of beautiful and inspiring songs. I feel guilty for not giving her anything. I did wrote her a thank you letter which I’m going to slip on her office door tomorrow, but I should have given her a souvenir or something. But that’s okay, if I’m going to live in Melbourne for studying Spirituality and Theology, I’ll be seeing her again and I can give her that souvenir.
~*~*~
I went to Carmelites Monastery to pray in their beautiful garden before lunch.
I love walking in this neighborhood. Yes it’s windy and freezing, but I just love it. If I tired walking then I just stop, looking at the big blue sky of Melbourne, or seeing the Melbourne skycrappers. Kew is on the east side and because of its hilly land structure, we can see the CBD skycrappers from here. It’s a very beautiful view, especially at night. It’s too bad my compact camera isn’t able to capture the night scene otherwise I can have some pictures of beautiful night lights from the Melbourne city.
~*~*~
I went up to the rooftop balcony after lunch. I brought a cuppa with me. It was soooo beautiful. I wish I don't have to go back to city tomorrow.
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The Rosary tonight is about Jesus the Healer (Jesus heals a paralyzed man, a woman who had suffered terribly from severe bleeding, a man born blind, a woman caught in adultery, and a boy with a demon).
Jesus is our perfect example as a healer.
Discover the gentle movement that is going on inside us all the time.
Discover the many ways of loving and receiving love.
Discover the many ways that Jesus, the gentle healer, is trying to love us.
Discover His call to a freedom, a healing that will allow us to love....
a healing that will call us to be gentle healers with Him, like Him.*
*Page 45. Hope for Healing.
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I am a kind of person who always buy everything under a warranty. I hate black-market products and avoid to purchase anything which come without any assurance on it. I just want to buy safe. If something happen then I will just go to the manufacturer and have it repaired. I know sometimes not all products are given with a reliable post purchase behaviour, but at least having a warranty product will reduce our headache.
That reflects on our life as well. Do we consider a warranty for our life? Or we just don’t care about that – taking short cuts for cheaper and easier things to get? How about if we are broken down? Where do we go for a repair? Who’s our manufacturer?
One possible result of a prayer is healing
Get a warranty of life and get yourselfrepairedhealed
Readings of the day:
o Psalms 131. Lord, I have given up my pride and turned away from my arrogance. I am not concerned with great matters or with subjects too difficult for me. Instead, I am content and at peace. As a child lies quietly in its mother’s arms, so my heart is quiet within me. Audia*, trust in the Lord now and forever!
o Acts 17:25,27-28. He himself gives all men life and breath and everything else... so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.
o Luke 6:27-31. “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well. Give to everyone who asks you for something, and when someone takes what is yours, do not ask for it back. Do for others just what you want them to do for you.”
o Luke 6:26-38. Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge others, and God will not judge you; do not condemn others, and God will not condemn you; forgive others, and God will forgive you. Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands – all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you.”
*Original version: Psalm 131:3. Israel, trust in the Lord now and forever!
Sources:
o Broyles, Sharon. Strength for Today, Daily Devotions for the Chronically Ill. HarperCollins Publishers, United States of America, 1993.
o Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Cross Reference Edition with The Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical Books. HarperCollins Publishers, London, 1998.
o Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals, Today’s English Version. Philippine Bible Society, Manila, 1992.
o Leach, George. Hope for Healing, An Invitation to Hope and Healing through personal and social relationship. Daniel Books of Toronto, Toronto, 1978.
o Lelen, J. M., Rev., Ph.D. Pray The Rosary. Catholic Book Publishing Corp, New Jersey, 2002.
o London, Larry. Doa Rosario Tujuh Hari, Berdasarkan Kitab Suci (Edisi Bahasa Indonesia). Penerbit OBOR, Jakarta, 2003.
