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Defining Moments
Posted by: | CommentsThis was a week of defining moments, not only for me personally, but collectively.
Defining moments come suddenly, unexpectedly. They divert the course you were on. They require attention, awareness, and reflection.
And they demand change.
I won’t get into all the personal defining moments, except to say that they were several, and some were pleasant, some not at all pleasant. I share a couple of them below.
Both the collective and personal defining moments sparked tremendous grief. And, also, oddly, a sense of hope.
As you might have guessed, the collective grief I refer to has to do with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, whom I didn’t follow much but am familiar with.
From those who knew him, even if they disagreed with him, you get the picture of someone who spoke about faith, conservative values, and whose passion was that there would be vigorous debate and freedom of speech.
He was committed to encouraging a generation of young people to really think, and he was respectful and courteous to those he disagreed with. In fact, he told those who disagreed with him to get to the head of the line to interact with him on his campus debate tours.
When I first heard the news of the shooting on Wednesday, the first words that came to me were, “And so it begins.” I do not know where that came from or what it means.
I also remembered the parable found in the Gospel of John (John 12:24), where Jesus explains that “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
When I saw the video Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika, released just two days after his murder, I was moved to tears and wondered if—and prayed that—this seemingly senseless death would be the seed from which God would bring some good. “Much fruit.”
One of the sources of grief is not only the fact that a talented, good man and father of two young children was gunned down in cold blood, but the media insinuations by some that “he had it coming.”
To anyone who feels that way, I would ask, as Charlie might, “Where is that coming from? Did you actually view any of the videos of his interactions with those who disagreed with him? Or are you going by what people said about him?”
Whenever I hear someone being vilified, I always go back to the source and look at/listen to what the person actually said. Often words are taken out of context and spun along the lines of a person’s ideology. When they are spun with hate mixed in, I immediately know it’s evil.
I was grieving over all this as I drove to my dentist’s office, who graciously agreed to see me for a very strange dental emergency that arose last night. Suddenly in the car, I felt the presence of Jesus. His presence brought a peace I rarely ever feel, not even in prayer or church.
I asked him, “Why are you so peaceful? Here I am, feeling so sorrowful, and you come with peace?”
I felt him smile gently and confidently, and say, “I’m peaceful because I know what I’ve done [I knew he was referring to the cross and his resurrection], and what I am doing.”
He added, “And I give you my peace.” (See John 14:17.)
One of the other personal defining moments from this week was a therapy session in which I learned how to hold both the troubling emotions and the strengthening emotions and truths together.
Both the grief and the hope are true and valid. We need to hold them together, because that’s the world we live in. There is evil, and we need to face that.
There is also hope.
My hope is in what Jesus told me today: that he conquered sin (evil) on the cross, and that he is now in the process of undoing that evil as he spreads his light in this world, largely through the believers in which he lives by the Holy Spirit, to “expose and thwart evil, reveal truth, and guide our feet in the paths of peace.”
You and I can be part of that light. Jesus said we who follow him are the light of the world. Charlie Kirk unabashedly shone that light brightly. He knew there could be a terrible cost. He pressed on anyway.
We too can and must be—must be—lights that push back the darkness.
That is why every single day I pray the prayer below that every week I include in my Healing Heart Issues Digest newsletter.
I hope you will too.
Let this be the defining moment when we each commit to the true Light, and to being clear reflections of that Light.
Pray for Haiti’s Dire Situation
Posted by: | CommentsEver since I graduated as an undergrad in 1978, I have sponsored a child through Compassion International.
Marie Michel, Haiti, age 9
I am now on my fifth child, Marie Michel, who is now 9 years old.
(I had the privilege of meeting my then-current child in Haiti in 1990. It was an unforgettable experience. It broke my heart to witness firsthand the poverty of the people, and to see that my child was sick. Yet, the courage and commitment of the Compassion workers totally inspired me. THEY were not depressed like I was by the circumstances.)
I just got the following update from Compassion, and ask that you would pray along with me and others for this desperate situation. (If you feel led, please also give to the relief fund.) We need God to shine His light of mercy here!
What to pray for Marie Michel
Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Haiti as they face a dire situation. Fuel subsidies have ended and caused major price increases. Many are protesting this in Haiti’s major cities, leading to violence, looting and blocked streets. Street blockages are causing banks and business to close — and preventing water and basic necessities from reaching those who need them most. As the situation worsens, families are forced to shelter in their homes to avoid the increasing violence. This grim situation follows a year of painful events for the people of Haiti, including a devastating earthquake and intense inflation.
Over half of Compassion’s Frontline Church Partners in Haiti are in areas reporting unrest. To keep children and staff safe, programing is paused, and staff members are reaching out to children and families over the phone to assist in any way they can. We hope to get children back into child development centers as soon as it is safe.
I know that hearing about the unrest and shortages in Haiti may weigh heavily on your heart. Would you join us in prayer? We ask you to pray with us for:
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Protection for children and families living in areas of unrest.
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Quick aid, including water, to be delivered to those who need it most.
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Safety for Compassion staff as they assess and help.
Thank you for your commitment to praying for and ministering to children in poverty.
In Christ,
Steven Marble
Senior Director, Supporter Care
Compassion International
P.S. Will you prayerfully consider giving to the Disaster Relief Fund to help children and families in Haiti during this difficult time?
A Fun Way to Set Yearly Intentions
Posted by: | CommentsI don’t know about you, but I’m not big on goals or setting “New Year’s resolutions.” Somehow setting a goal the typical way, especially with a deadline, ends up being more stressful. (Life always seems to get in the way.) Then, too, it’s discouraging if I don’t meet the goal.
Instead I like to set intentions. Usually it’s just a word or phrase to set the direction, and then I try to stay Aligned and tuned in to God’s direction day by day as I go.
Being a word person, I like to set a little rhyme. Since I just turned ____-five, my rhyme for this birth year is “____-five, the year to thrive.” That is my intention—to thrive no matter what life throws at me.
You can use this approach to look back, or look ahead. ___-four was “the year for more,” and boy was it ever—mostly more stress. But also more insights, deeper ministry and growth; more ideas and plans. Just—more of everything. A full year of both challenges and blessings.
You can also make an intentional rhyme for each year. Though I wanted 2021 to be “the year of fun,” I doubted that would happen and instead dubbed it “the year to be done.” Done with settling my mother’s estate, done with certain dysfunctional relationships, done with my old patterns that weren’t serving me.
And you know what? I did get all those things done. (Though the “done with dysfunctional old patterns” is a work in progress, as that is something no one ever gets done addressing.)
I am dubbing 2022 as “the year to be true.” True to my deepest values, true to my “Touchstone to Alignment,” and dedicated to deciphering what is true about these unprecedented times.
2022: The Year to Be True
What was 2021 for you? What will 2022 be for you? The year for the new? The year to finally do (something you’ve always wanted to)? The year for few (as in, fewer things, commitments, responsibilities)? What about the birth year you’re in?
Set your two intentions, visit them often, and see if it’s easier and more effective than setting New Year’s resolutions. (Studies show people usually don’t end up keeping them past February.)
I’d love to hear what your intentions are! Post a comment. Declaring it publicly somehow gives it more power, so studies show.
And it you would like some help connecting with your Heart to set your intentions, and addressing the heart issues that would keep you from manifesting those intentions, check out my coaching at HealingCodesCoaching.com.
Healing Over Time
Posted by: | Comments“When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown!”–Isaiah 43:2
My friend Virginia told me the greatest gift she’s received from God is the gift of healing. “Many times I have been hurt so deeply I think I can never get over this,” she said. She mentioned embarrassments, humiliations, loneliness, depression, and discouragement. Yet despite such feelings, Virginia says, “over time, the trauma of the experience dims. I look back on the experience without the feelings I had in the midst of it. I have the lessons I learned from it. I’m amazed at how resilient I am.”
I could easily remember such experiences in my own life.
I like something I heard from Dr. Mark Virkler: “You know when something is healed when you can see the gift in it.” That feels right. Once we truly receive the lessons, the gifts from the experience, we are healed.
There is a progression to pain. First the blow. Then the shock. Then the tidal wave of pain. Here is the critical point. Will we wade through pain all the way to the other side–trusting there is another side? Or will we fight the tide, trying to turn around and escape it? (Futile thought!) Will we pretend we’re sailing through when we’re actually drowning? Even if we refuse to wade right in, the pain will lap at our feet. It will pose a threat, keeping us trapped on the shore.
If we don’t resist the pain, the current will take us to the other side. Healing is built into creation. The Healing Codes and prayer can greatly speed the healing, which is always a process.
As the moon governs the tide, so grace governs the deep waters that engulf you. Grace will get you to the other side. From that distant shore, a much stronger swimmer, you will look out over the waters and say in wonder, “I came through. I can see the gifts. The current of grace did not fail.”
And it never will!
Related article: “Do I Need To Keep Doing Healing Codes Once My Issue Heals?”
If you would like some personalized help to speed the healing of your heart issues, check out my coaching at HealingCodesCoaching.com.
Tips to Navigate the Roller Coaster of Now
Posted by: | CommentsI was talking to a friend for the first time since this global shutdown came upon us.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
I answered, “Well, you know . . . it’s up and it’s down, good days and bad days, and today is not such a good day. The roller coaster ride of now.”
She repeated my sentence word for word, laughed, and said, “You have just nailed it.”
Up and down . . . good days and not so good days . . . the roller coaster ride of now.
And—the thing is—it doesn’t seem to matter what’s really going on.
For instance, a lot of great things are happening in my personal life right now. And in my clients’ lives. (Stay tuned, I have some real miracles to report!) I am focused on the positive, especially after last week’s revelation about how God searches out the positives and expands them. I am genuinely excited about coming into that space with him and allowing him to do that in my life, my relationships, my work.
And yet . . . yet the angst of the world’s suffering still seems to break in, even when I don’t watch the news much. It’s probably a factor in why I’m still easily triggered, like I was on Mother’s Day. Read More→
“Editing” Your Life
Posted by: | CommentsFrom the beginning of my career, editing has been a huge part of it. I was an English major, and started working in publishing after graduation. My first job was a dream: I edited radio programs, little mini-interviews with authors, and wrote scripts for the announcer. It was the precursor to what are now podcasts; this publisher was way ahead of the times!
Photo by Ryan Snaadt on Unsplash
(A side note of historical interest: Though the publisher was ahead of the times, the technology was not. We had the author interviews transcribed on paper, I would edit on paper, and the technician would actually splice the tape. I still chuckle when I think of how we used to do it.)
After the radio program was discontinued, I became a marketing writer, then a magazine editor, then I moved to editing books. My final formal book project was editing The Healing Code for Dr. Alex Loyd and Dr. Ben Johnson, which changed the course of my career.
Yet because writing is still a big part of my life, I still find myself editing.
Which got me to thinking about how it’s a good idea to be editing our very lives, on an ongoing basis. To be most effective in our work, to be happy and fulfilled, to gain clarity on the meaning and direction of our life, we regularly need to do the same things I do to edit a book or article. Read More→
Your Purpose in Life–in One Word?
Posted by: | CommentsDo you know your purpose in life?
Health experts and researchers say that knowing one’s purpose in life is a key factor in longevity. It’s also vital if you’re fighting disease. In The Healing Code, coauthor Dr. Ben Johnson shared how his sense of calling and purpose helped him overcome ALS.
If you aren’t sure yet of your unique purpose in life, consider this exercise.
Ask yourself: When I am at my best, what am I doing? When I have felt the most satisfied with myself, what did I just do?
What you did–the action–is going to be a verb. That verb often can describe your very essence.
Buckminster Fuller said, “God is a verb.” That is biblically accurate. When God revealed himself to Moses, he said he was the ultimate “be” verb: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14).
God’s verb is “I AM.”
Descartes is famous for saying, “I think, therefore I am.” His verb was “think.”
Your verb may come to you in a flash … or you may have to think about it for a while. Here’s the key question:
What is the thread that runs through most of what you
do, that encompasses the essence not only of what you
do, but who you are?
Many people I’ve discussed this with know their verb quickly. But don’t feel bad if you do not know. Just keep pondering the above questions, until you begin to see it. Ask people who know you well: “What is it that you most value in me?” Often the Verb is something you do so naturally, you’re not even aware of what it is. You think everyone can just ____ (fill in the blank with what comes naturally to you), but they can’t.
My verb is “connect.” I love to connect people with ideas that will inspire them, enlighten them, change them.
I love to connect people with other people who will inspire, teach, encourage, motivate or enlightened them.
And I love to connect people with resources that will make their life easier and better in some way.
This is the thread that runs through everything I have done in my many-faceted career. When I was a book publishing coach and consultant, that’s what I was all about. And now as a healing coach, that is what people say they value most in me. In fact, I did these things in this very post–without even trying! Did you notice?
Your verb will characterize not only your career/work, but your relationships as well. As a parent, connect is what instinctively do. I also find myself trying to connect friends with ideas, people and resources that will make their lives better.
So that’s my verb. What’s yours?
Take a few moments to reflect on this.
It’s at the heart of what you have to offer the world, after all. It is your unique purpose for being on the planet, what you’ve been wired to contribute. And the best part is–your verb is what comes most naturally to you!
If you would like help identifying your verb, and removing any blocks to expressing it, contact Diane Eble to explore this vital source of health and happiness.
Prayer and Healing–What’s the Connection?
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How important is prayer to healing?
For me, prayer is an integral part of healing. I often say that for me, The Healing Codes are a combination of prayer, meditation, and therapy–with God as the Wonderful Counselor.
Also, I have found that people who have a strong relationship with God seem to heal faster and deeper than people who don’t.
Yet, one of my clients who is an avowed atheist is also healing–rather quickly, in fact. At least, he healed a “heart wall” that was (metaphorically) five feet thick in one week.
How can this be?
I do believe all healing comes from God. But, as I mentioned in another post about Jesus’ parable of the farmer planting a seed and it grows, “he knows not how,” so the God who “makes the sun to shine on the good and the evil” has put the principle of healing into every living creature. It is what is known as “common grace,” and is built into all living things.
That’s why The Healing Codes work for anyone, regardless of their beliefs. It’s very simple, really. Stress is what incapacitates the body’s immune system. The Healing Code removes stress from the body. Then the immune system can take over its God-given ability to heal almost anything.
The Healing Code does incorporate prayer. You can’t properly do a Healing Code without saying “the prayer of intention.” Even if you believe you’re asking the body itself to “find, open and heal all the negative images, beliefs, and cellular memories” that are the source of your issue, you are reaching beyond your conscious self and acknowledging there’s another intelligence at work here.
Personally, I believe you might as well pray and trust the Creator of the body rather than the body itself, but reality is what it is whether you believe it or not. I’ve noticed that, if you go against the grain of the universe, you’re bound to get splinters of some sort.
Me, I want to pray to the God That Is, whether I understand him fully or not (and no doubt I don’t, or I’d be on a par, wouldn’t I?). As I do, I find I understand just a little more.
And I heal of things I didn’t even know I had to heal. When the light shines, it exposes (and then heals) all sorts of things I never even knew were there…..
If you would like to find out more about spiritual perspectives on The Healing Codes and energy approaches, go here.
Boosting Oxytocin–The Love and Joy Hormone
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Did you know that there’s a place in your brain that literally lights up when you’re with someone who is glad to see you, glad to be with you?
And that when these “joy centers” or “relational circuits” light up, a certain hormone–oxytocin–releases into your body and does all kinds of wonderful things to you, including promoting healing?
When your Relational Circuits are ON, you can live in love, joy, and peace, even if your circumstances are not so ideal.
When they are Off, you are in fear and stress mode. Then another hormone–cortisol–takes over, and that does bad things to your body over time.
So how do you know whether your Relational Circuits (RCs) are on or off?
Here’s how you feel when they’re OFF:
- You just want to make a problem, person or feeling go away.
- You don’t want to listen to what others feel or say.
- Your mind is “locked onto” something upsetting.
- You don’t want to be connected to ___ (someone you usually like).
- You just want to get away, or fight, or freeze.
- You more aggressively interrogate, judge and try to fix others.
If you answered yes to any of these, your Relational Circuits are OFF.
And having your RCs off “is like trying to see with your eyes closed or driving your car at night with the headlights off!” No fun–even dangerous.
So how do you turn them back on, so that you see the person as more important than the problem, and can operate from love, respect, humility, and peace?
There are things you can do with your body to actually help you “wake up” your RCs. Read More→
Do Healing Codes Stimulate the Vagus Nerve?
Posted by: | CommentsI‘ve written often about my belief that the body can heal itself. If you give the body the right conditions, it can heal itself, unless things are too far gone.
Researchers are discovering that one of those “right conditions” might have to do with the vagus nerve. As I learned about the key nerve, I wondered if The Healing Codes somehow stimulate that key nerve. Here’s why.
