Resources for a Quiet Day of Healing
The following provides resources for an online quiet day that was held on April 18th, 2020.
Here you will find materials to prepare for or reflect on during an online quiet day of healing, including:
• a schedule;
• reflection questions;
• quotes that can be used for reflection or lectio divina;
• a list of books on healing themes;
• What Is Healing Prayer? (from the Grace Church Brooklyn Heights Brochure “An Invitation to Healing Prayer”);
• how to prepare for an online quiet day;
• instructions for centering prayer.
Schedule (approximate)
10:00 - 11:00
Introduction to the day
Talk: What does it mean to be healed?
11:00 - 12:00
Centering prayer and lectio divina
12:00 - 1:00
Lunch in silence
Reading, journalling, drawing, reflection
1:00 - 2:00
Centering prayer and visio divina
2:00 - 2:30
Final gathering and reflections
Reflection Questions
• When have you experienced wholeness and connection with God? Can you use the memory of this time to make contact with the wise, connected, grounded part of yourself and spend some time with it, listening to it, attending to it, and nurturing it?
• What practices work best for you to encourage wholeness and connection? Examples: being in nature, listening to music, looking at or creating art, dancing, swimming, singing, chanting, playing a musical instrument, sitting quietly, taking a bath, spiritual practices such as worship, lectio divina, the daily office, centering prayer and other forms of meditation?
What is your practice and how can you make more time for it?
• What is your body trying to tell you? Is it trying to get your attention? Is there a left-out part of you that has been silenced or ignored that needs to speak up today? A memory coming up? A sense of dread or fear? What wants your attention today?
• What is your greatest wound? Is it physical, emotional, spiritual? Perhaps it is not the greatest wound that asks for your attention today but something smaller yet more urgent. Allow it to rise up out of the silence of your body and teach you.
• What would you like to ask for? Can you ask God right now? If not, what is holding you back?
• Do you need to forgive or be forgiven? What is standing in your way?
• What do you need to do to open to your own suffering and allow yourself to be with it? Can you simply notice it in a mindful and physical way, observing how it feels in your body, without being overwhelmed by it?
• How can you prepare yourself to be ready to heal others? Jesus summons his disciples and gives them authority to heal. That authority passes onto us as Jesus’s followers. What do you need to do today to open to that authority and not be afraid of it? How do you yourself need to be healed so that you may heal “with authority”?
Thich Nhat Hanh. Living Buddha, Living Christ.
Our true home is in the present moment. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment. Peace is all around us - in the world and in nature - and within us - in our bodies and our spirits. Once we learn to touch this peace, we will be healed and transformed. It is not a matter of faith; it is a matter of practice. We need only to bring our body and mind into the present moment, and we will touch what is refreshing, healing, and wondrous.
Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times.
Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy…To stay with that shakiness – to stay with a broken heart, with a rumbling stomach, with the feeling of hopelessness and wanting to get revenge – that is the path of true awakening. Sticking with that uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic – this is the spiritual path.
The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus, Mark 10:46 - 52
As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
Jesus Cures a Blind Man at Bethsaida, Mark 8:22-26
They came to Bethsaida. Some people[a] brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” And the man[b] looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”
Symeon's Hymn 15 in his Hymns of Divine Love
We awaken in Christ's body,
As Christ awakens our bodies.
There I look down and my poor hand is Christ,
He enters my foot and is infinitely me.
I move my hand and wonderfully
My hand becomes Christ,
Becomes all of Him.
I move my foot and at once
He appears in a flash of lightning.
Do my words seem blasphemous to you?
--Then open your heart to Him.
And let yourself receive the one
Who is opening to you so deeply.
For if we genuinely love Him,
We wake up inside Christ's body
Where all our body all over,
Every most hidden part of it,
Is realized in joy as Him,
And He makes us utterly real.
And everything that is hurt, everything
That seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful,
Maimed, ugly, irreparably damaged
Is in Him transformed.
And in Him, recognized as whole, as lovely,
And radiant in His light,
We awaken as the beloved
In every last part of our body.
Thomas Keating, Open Mind Open Heart
Interior silence is one of the most strengthening and affirming of human experiences. There is nothing more affirming, in fact, than the experience of God’s presence. That revelation says as nothing else can, “You are a good person. I created you and I love you.” Divine love brings us into being in the fullest sense of the word. It heals the negative feelings we have about ourselves.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run with the Wolves
If you have a deep scar, that is a door.
Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer
The minister is called to recognize the sufferings of his time in his own heart and make that recognition the starting point of his service … his service will not be perceived as authentic unless it comes from a heart wounded by the suffering of which he speaks.
Frank Ostaseski, The Five Invitations
The Second Invitation: Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience
In the process of healing others and ourselves we open to both our joy and fear. In the service of this healing we draw on our strength and helplessness, our wounds and passion to discover a meeting place with the other. Professional warmth doesn’t heal. It is not our expertise but the exploration of our own suffering that enables us to be of real assistance. That’s what allows us to touch another human being’s pain with compassion instead of with fear and pity. We have to invite it all in. We can’t travel with others in territory that we haven’t explored ourselves. It is the exploration of our own inner life that enables us to form an empathetic bridge to the other person.
William Countryman, Forgiven and Forgiving
Probably most of us can sense within ourselves a little something that could conceivably choose to be miserable in a world of our own making rather than to be blissfully happy in God’s family.
Mary Oliver, Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
Resources
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. This meditation classic is by one of the founders of the mindfulness movement, a doctor who has vast experience in working with patients to help them use mindfulness for healing and to work with pain and stress. Contains information on the scientific aspects of healing and the ways in which mindfulness can physically change us.
Thich Nhat Hanh, Anger. Some thoughts from the Buddhist monk and meditation master on working with one of our most powerful emotions.
Ann Ulanov, The Living God and Our Living Psyche: What Christians Can Learn from Carl Jung. The Union Theological Seminary and Jungian therapist writes about whether Jungian psychology is compatible with Christian faith, with a particular emphasis on how we integrate shadow material that may be difficult for us to acknowledge.
Ellen Bass and Laura Davis, The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. This classic book works to empower survivors as they work through the complex emotions that can be associated with abuse.
William Countryman, Forgiven and Forgiving. An exploration of the process of forgiveness in a Christian context.
Avery Brooke, Healing in the Landscape of Prayer. A practical guide for Christians seeking to learn about healing prayer.
Philip St. Romain, Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality: A Pathway to Growth and Healing. Interesting story of a man who by intensively practicing Christian meditation triggered changes in his kundalini energy and his struggles to make sense of his experiences.
Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. This book is helpful and affirming for those who have been pressured to become more extroverted to meet parental and societal ideals.
What Is Healing Prayer?
(from the Grace Church Brooklyn Heights Brochure “An Invitation to Healing Prayer”)
Healing Prayer is a special type of intercessory prayer—for self or others—that seeks grace and wholeness in body, mind and spirit through Jesus’ love and the power of the Holy Spirit. Healing Prayer is one of many manifestations of Jesus’ compassion, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world today. It is a simple, but powerful form of prayer.
When Is Healing Prayer Appropriate?
There is really no limit to the situations in which Healing Prayer may be sought. Because so many of the healings that Jesus performed were for people with physical illnesses or disabilities, there is a perception that Healing Prayer is only for people who face a frightening diagnosis, serious disease or surgery. And certainly requests for healing are appropriate in these circumstances.
But the potential of Healing Prayer is to restore wholeness in mind and spirit, as well as in body. Wholeness in this sense may be understood as a realignment: a fuller awareness of God’s presence and love, a wider openness to truth, a clearer view of what is important, an expanded sense of possibility and purpose, a greater closeness with God. Life’s everyday challenges, times of indecision, doubt, confusion, loss or disappointment, awareness of faults or shortcomings, feelings of isolation, or the need for guidance may be occasions for Healing Prayer. So are life transitions. Healing Prayer may be sought in times of need and difficulty, but also in times of anticipation and gratitude. Some people cannot articulate a specific concern; some simply want a general blessing or prayer. These too are occasions for Healing Prayer, brief opportunities to “check in” with God. Like all relationships, our relationship with God benefits from regular attentiveness and open communication. Some of you may not consider yourself to be religious; you may not be sure about God or your faith. Please be assured that you too are welcome to receive Healing Prayer.
How Do I Receive Healing Prayer?
Trained members of the Healing Prayer team offer Healing Prayer during Communion or immediately after the service in the side chapel at the 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. services. When you approach a member of the team, she or he will ask if you have any special concerns. You may say what you wish to pray about, and who the prayer is for, if not you. Or you may simply indicate that you would like a prayer or blessing. It is not necessary to reveal anything that you do not want to. God knows what is in all of our hearts.
The Healing Prayer team member may place hands on your head or shoulders if that is acceptable to you, offer a prayer, and then anoint your forehead with oil. Most members of the Healing Prayer team are lay people; if your tradition only allows anointing by ordained clergy or you would prefer not to be anointed, please let us know. Like all pastoral ministries at Grace Church, Healing Prayer is completely confidential.