Power of prayer
Thank you Amy and Omar, for this perspective on health. I work as a nurse in a nursing home. And I already had an interest in holistic health, but the way we practise is still the old fashioned way. Medication is the answer to all kinds of problems. I had an experience yesterday, I was attending a man with Alzheimer’s, and I brought my beautiful feeling of love and compassion with me to work. (It’s a whole new world living from the inside out). The guy was feeling confused and angry because he thought his family forgot to pick him up. He wandered all over the place asking people for a ride home or if we could lend him a phone. So normally, we are very busy and just give them oxacepam and get frustrated when it doesn’t work. The new way for me, is to sit down with him and ask about his family and what he used to do before. He relaxed some, but still asked me why I wouldn’t let him phone home. Then we went to his room, I told him we should call his wife, just to confirm that she knew he was here. Afterwards I took his bible and read from it and he just relaxed and fell into a state of meditation. Really listened to the words that he knew so well, made him feel safe. So after that, he prayed, and thanked me for being there with him. I thanked him too, cause I felt it was such a beautiful experience. And to be a real nurse, it’s important to not just give but also receive. And be thankful for whatever comes. It’s an interchange of mutual love.
And then he asked me why God wanted him to suffer this way. He didn’t deserve it. I just reminded him that God could never wish for someone to suffer. He wants us to be happy and wonderful. We just have to trust it. And he got it.
I was so grateful for this experience. I took the only thing that really resounds in his heart, to calm the hard feelings. Later when he went to bed and my colleague wanted to read for him, he said that somebody had already done that. So even through the foggy Alzheimer’s mind, he remembered the good feeling. Actually this is what they teach in the dementia classes I have attended, it’s about finding the way to the good feeling, the belonging, identity etc. But for us to remember that in the busy frustrating workday is not so easy.
I have been on part time sick leave, and I discovered some new angles to the way a job can create illness. The way I see it, it comes from being unconscious at work. Most healthcare workers tend to think only of the patients at work. We forget ourselves. This leads to burnout, pain, joint problems, bad eating habits, and so on.
The blessing of the three principles that I have received through my illness, has revealed a new way of understanding myself in a work situation. I have been unable to do anything ( what I thought was nothing but really was quite a few things when I put it on a list) but I got the most beautiful insight doing absolutely nothing. The feeling of love and pulsating life in my whole body, is the essence of being. When I connect with that, I can put meaning into my actions. I can do a lot more without loosing myself.
So maybe I don’t work as fast as before, but it makes more sense, especially working with old people, that I take the time needed for connecting, doing things in their own perfect time. This prevents conflict, frustration, force, and work-induced illness.