I want to write about hospitals and not being able to sleep all night and 200 pills you have to take each day in a certain order because the really nasty-tasting ones you save for the end. And how strangers blithely mention people who have died around you. And how all you want when you’re in the hospital is a hot shower and someone to muscularly wash your hair, put on talcum powder and change the sweaty sheets.
God I could go on.
Oh Donna, I can’t say I'm losing it, but I sure do get scared sometimes. Also, I feel like a watched pot sometimes with people around me looking at me like I'm going to explode any minute. God, the patience and strength really does have to come from within and I've certainly gotten in touch with “within” this year, but it doesn’t always seem to be there. It’s a mighty lesson I'm going through I feel, and you know what? There’s no doubt I’m up to the challenge: I’ve got the strength, physically and certainly mentally. I really know that this AIDS scare is really just asking me to finally admit that I'm a lovely, wonderful human being. A source of joy--and the more I realize that, the better and calmer I’ll feel. So there.
God, this makes sense, I think maybe that’s what crises are for--to get us to realize and appreciate our worth.
William Dean Clark, excerpt from a January 26, 1993 letter. Bill died on February 12, 1993, in Graduate Hospital, Philadelphia.
God I could go on.
Oh Donna, I can’t say I'm losing it, but I sure do get scared sometimes. Also, I feel like a watched pot sometimes with people around me looking at me like I'm going to explode any minute. God, the patience and strength really does have to come from within and I've certainly gotten in touch with “within” this year, but it doesn’t always seem to be there. It’s a mighty lesson I'm going through I feel, and you know what? There’s no doubt I’m up to the challenge: I’ve got the strength, physically and certainly mentally. I really know that this AIDS scare is really just asking me to finally admit that I'm a lovely, wonderful human being. A source of joy--and the more I realize that, the better and calmer I’ll feel. So there.
God, this makes sense, I think maybe that’s what crises are for--to get us to realize and appreciate our worth.
William Dean Clark, excerpt from a January 26, 1993 letter. Bill died on February 12, 1993, in Graduate Hospital, Philadelphia.
Imaging the Word An Arts and Lectionary Resource, Volume 2
Spiritual Practices: Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina, or Diving Reading, is a method of reading, reflecting on, and praying the Scripture that has been used by the church for centuries. It focuses on communing with God in Scripture rather than simply studying Scripture for intellectual understanding. Click here for more information on how to practice Lectio Divina. Here are some suggested verses in this passage that may lend themselves to conversation with God through the practice of Lectio Divina.
Suggested Verses
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
(Psalm 27:1)
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
(Psalm 27:4)
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
(Psalm 27:8-9)
Lectio Divina, or Diving Reading, is a method of reading, reflecting on, and praying the Scripture that has been used by the church for centuries. It focuses on communing with God in Scripture rather than simply studying Scripture for intellectual understanding. Click here for more information on how to practice Lectio Divina. Here are some suggested verses in this passage that may lend themselves to conversation with God through the practice of Lectio Divina.
Suggested Verses
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
(Psalm 27:1)
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
(Psalm 27:4)
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
(Psalm 27:8-9)