What’s Wrong With Me?
Posted: April 13, 2012 Filed under: EMS, Spirituality, Thoughts Leave a comment »
The young man on my stretcher exclaimed: “I just want to know what’s wrong with me!”
It wasn’t a question. I thought, I paused, I looked at him. Then I said, slowly, “Your problem isn’t medical.”
“You’re depressed,” I said. “You drink to self medicate. That makes your depression and anxiety worse. This all aggravates your bleeding ulcer. Then it just spirals down from there.”
He looked up at me. Our eyes met. “No one has ever told me that before.”
“The medical system doesn’t know how to tell you this,” I replied. “Your issue is emotional and spiritual, but you can’t fix it yourself.”
And this was the beginning of an even deeper conversation – with more eye contact and less shame…
Self Talk
Posted: February 18, 2012 Filed under: Spirituality, Thoughts 1 Comment »
I couldn’t sleep last night. It wasn’t because I wasn’t tired, for like always, I’m exhausted. I really didn’t have anything on my mind, and I wasn’t anxious about anything – I just couldn’t sleep.
When I finally quit reading, I lay in bed and listened to the pouring rain on the roof and in our backyard forest. I love that sound. I thought about my wife, I thought about our kids, I thought about the future, and I thought about the present. I prayed. I prayed for my wife, I prayed for our kids, and I listened.
Actually, it is redundant for me to say I prayed and I listened. For me, prayer isn’t just talking, it is also listening. I learned a long time ago that prayer is a conversation and that I can’t do all the talking. In fact, my God has much to say to me and I would be wise to stop asking for so much and start listening more. In fact, this is what I do.
First Save Myself
Posted: September 25, 2011 Filed under: Creativity, Parenting, Spirituality, Thoughts 2 Comments »
Over the course of the past month I’ve been having an interesting discussion with you, my readers, and myself. It’s been about change, questions, the status quo, and the desire to leave well enough alone. I’m not sure I even know how to do this.
My 9th Great-Grandfather (Roger Williams) was so unhappy with the way things were in Boston, that he left (actually, he was thrown out), and after living in the wilderness for awhile, he founded Providence, Rhode Island. His story is an amazing tale of sacrifice, ostracism, and loneliness.
My 6th Great-Grandfather (John Corbly), on the other side of my family tree, was a pioneer church planter who also paid high dearly for his vision – his family was killed by Native Americans trying to defend their territory in the Ohio Valley. Read the rest of this entry »
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