Gillian White           

I would like to share my own understanding of healing through the laying-on of hands/therapeutic touch and prayer.

  At my Parish Church in a village near Exeter we have no specific Healing Service with the  laying-on of hands but I believe this will happen when the time is right.  My Vicar has been totally supportive and encouraging since I became involved with healing four years ago.  He is a member of our Doctor-Healer Network group in Exeter.  My involvement with the Church is an essential part of my life.  I receive love and healing from being a member of this community and especially from sharing the bread and wine at the Eucharist when we are 'one body'.

  Though I am a member of the church I am still struggling with some aspects of the Doctrine of the Church.  God, for me, is not the old man in the sky with a beard I learnt about as a child - the strict father looking down on me in a judgmental way, saying such things as 'If you commit that sin you will go to hell.'  'He' is for me the creator of all, the Holy (whole) spirit that pervades everything and everybody.  I believe that God is an all-knowing, unconditional love 'energy' which is always available to us, if we are receptive.  However, we have free will to choose to receive this energy which is 'the light' or choose 'the dark' or 'shadow' side of us at any given time.

  The life and teachings of Jesus, the historical man when he was fully human on earth, is the model for my living and my inspiration towards healing and wholeness.  Now that he is no longer on earth in physical form, his spirit lives on within me and it is that spirit, the Holy Spirit, that I draw on when I am channelling healing energy to the person I am helping.

  Some people feel the transfer of this energy the first time they receive this form of healing.  With others it takes several sessions to relax and be receptive.  Healing seems to help them at some level in any case, whether it is reduction of stress, easing of pain, greater peace of mind or a change of attitude to their problem.  Sometimes it enables them to 'let go' and die in peace when that time has come.  At the end of a healing session I 'close down' the energy flow and say 'thank-you' to God.

  Although it is right for me, I do not believe that Christianity is the only way to God.  When I give healing, I don't talk about religious beliefs until the patient asks.  As trust builds up, we are often able to talk freely on spiritual matters.  I can then speak of my own beliefs without the risk of seeming to be indoctrinating.  I am learning many wonderful things from Jews, Hindus and Buddhists through the giving and receiving of healing.  I also believe that healing can be exchanged between people with no religious faith.  For instance, I find that young children and animals are the most receptive of all to healing energy.

  In writing this article I am helping myself to clarify my own beliefs.  I will never know all the answers but I am certain that all of us involved with health and healing are on the same journey towards wholeness through unconditional love.  Bridges of understanding are slowly but surely being built between those involved with the Ministry of Healing in the Church and those working as healers in the community.

  One of the most important things of all for me is that my husband has changed direction with me.  He is convinced about the help healers can give.  From being totally sceptical about Christianity for the most of our 34 years of married life, he has joined me in the Christian Church and we are each seeking our individual truth together.
 

You may quote from or reproduce these editorial clips if you include the following credits and email contact:
Copyright © Daniel J. Benor, M.D. 1992 Reprinted with permission of the author P.O. Box 76 Bellmawr, NJ 08099
www.WholisticHealingResearch.com   DB@WholisticHealingResearch.com
  
 
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