Tag Archives: healing

On Loss and Healing

healing heartThere is no loss really as we are all one in Spirit. The essence of Life that animates us is eternal. We simply transform or transition from beings of form to being beyond form.  This is beautiful. It is reassuring. And it does not fill the hole created when someone we love dearly moves beyond form.  Our hearts become heavy and sometimes feel closed and compressed.  We may ache for the physical form which we have associated with the responsive, loving mind we cherish.  So, how then do we heal the hole? 

Allowing is the most vital aspect of any form of growth or healing.  If we plant a seed in the ground, it would not make sense to cover the ground so tightly that the emerging plant cannot break through.  Allowing ourselves to feel the sadness and pain are key to the ultimate healing.

We may dress a physical wound to protect it from unhealthy bacteria, but the dressing must be able to breathe, to let air in.  In our emotional healing we provide protection by loving ourselves enough to say no to what doesn’t serve us and yes to those things that bring us joy.  Healthy boundaries that honor our own healing process will promote the growth of a new sense of balance and wholeness.

The healing of a physical wound occurs because new cells grow and replace the injured ones. The process is not instant.  It is a process.  Cells grow a little at a time.  One day at a time as we heal from loss, new ways of being will unfold. We will be offered opportunities to reinvent ourselves.  New people may enter our lives – if we let them.  Old friends may take on a different role in our lives – if we let them.  And new ideas, activities, and opportunities will rise to the surface like new cells pushing their way toward the outer edges of our skin.  Pay attention to these. Listen for what calls to you, inspires you and feeds you.  Just as the one you love has taken on a new and invisible form, you too are taking on a new form and a new way of being.  One day at a time, love yourself. One day at a time be kind to yourself. One day at a time allow yourself to grow and be the next and beautiful expression of who you are and who you’ve come here to be. Namaste’

© 2017. Rev. Eileen DeRosia Patra

Rev. Patra is an ordained, Unity minister currently serving as the spiritual leader of Unity of Livonia in Livonia, Michigan

The Pursuit of Happiness?

pursuite of happinessThe pursuit of happiness is not fulfilled by the freedom to express hate. Hate is a derivative of fear. One hates what one deems an enemy, that which one fears will somehow hurt them or diminish them. Hate is an aspect of the “fight” response to fear.  Only when fear is acknowledged, soothed and brought into alignment with the assurance of Divine Love can there be an experience of true happiness.  All else is but a shield to assuage a perceived fear.

Fear, disguised as hate and anger is often triggered by a perceived loss. ‘Someone is taking something away from me.’ In Truth, there is no loss. All that we see, all that we experience are manifestations of Light and energy which is never lost. It simply moves and transforms.  When we finally recognize that we are inextricably connected to one another and therefor own everything, yet own nothing, will we know there is nothing to fear, nothing to lose.

When you say you are losing some piece of your culture or your history, what is it that you are losing? Are you losing the grace and beauty of the fertile grounds that fed your ancestors? Are you losing your history of charm and hospitality? Or are you losing the false illusion that those you saw as heroes are not really heroes at all.  Were they heroes because they stood for something they believed in and laid their lives on the line for it. In a sense, a very human sense, I suppose this is so. But when you expand your perspective to recognize that what they stood for was something deeply hurtful and harmful to the fabric of humanity can you see their actions as something other than heroic? Can you begin to see them as the leadership of a fear that saw masses of God’s children as less than human?  Can you see that as you hold them dearly in your clinging to a false image of grace and charm that you hold yourself in a false reality in which some of humanity is worthy of God’s love and some are not?  That some therefore are worthy of your love and some are not. Only when you let go of these false images of heroism can you begin to heal yourself.  You didn’t know you needed healing, did you?  But yes, you do. You see you too are a part of this fabric of Life.  And while you reject portions of it from your fear of what is not manifesting exactly the same way as you are, you pull at yourself, you separate the essence of your being from the whole. You cause yourself to be isolated from the outworking of God. You cause yourself to be outside of the wholeness of Divine Love. The happiness that you pursue will never bring you what you truly seek, which is to be one with that from which you come. While you reject any part of this you remain outside of it, alone, afraid, fighting and hurting. 

Could you, for just one moment, let go? Let go of your judgments. Let go of your need to cling to what is not even real. Let go of what you fear? Could you for just one moment allow Love to fill the fearful parts of yourself. Could you consider that it is fear that causes you to cling to what is not whole, what is not loving. Could you for just one moment look deeply into the eyes of those you see as different or less than, and see and feel the face of God?  Could you for one moment look deeply into those eyes and see the pain, the fear that is so much like your own? Could you look for one moment into that opening that draws you one to the other and see that you are one? Could you reach across the fence of fear and embrace the other as yourself?  For is this not what our brother and Wayshower, Jesus taught us? To love one another as ourselves?  Is this not the teaching of other faith traditions and spiritual philosophies as well? You do not have to be Christian to understand that it is Love that brings us together and Hatred and Fear that pull us apart.  For just one moment, open your eyes wider than they have ever been open before. Reach out and embrace the other whoever that might be for you.  You will open in you a flood of Divine Love that brings you a greater experience of happiness than you have ever imagined. And this, no one can ever take from you. Namaste’

© 2017. Rev. Eileen Patra

BE-Holding the Light

hologram.cc.1569468739_b7ca26acca_qOne cannot hold Light while one is holding darkness. It would be like filling your arms with laundry and then trying to pick up a bushel of apples with the same arms.  The laundry would have to be set down first.  For this reason, Jesus told his followers, when you pray “… first be reconciled with your brother.” Matt 5:24

When you wish to hold the Light, to affirm wholeness and the Light of God in action, you must first release all notions of darkness.  Reconcile these things by acknowledging they are not the Truth and requesting of Spirit that whatever is not Truth or Light be released, dissolved, set down and overshadowed by Light.  In this way, you are released and healed and those for whom you pray are also released and made new.

© 2017. Rev. Eileen Patra

An Unexpected Journey, part 1

cc.14132367384_525d253cb5_zFor those of you who generally follow my posts you may have noticed I’ve been on a blogging hiatus.  I’ve found myself on a path I could not have predicted as my husband’s journey of healing has taken the spotlight in our lives.  As a firm believer in the power of the mind to create our experiences and of the natural state of wholeness that underlies any appearance of illness, a sudden health challenge should be a simple matter, right? Well, in fact, it is simple, but the mind is a complicated aspect of our consciousness, not easily harnessed. It can be like a wild horse taking flight … in a variety of possible directions. 

As I sit here this afternoon, I find myself excited at returning to the keyboard, ready to write about this journey.  Even though it is not yet complete, the experience has already been and filled with underlying blessings, invisible to many, and often hidden from that runaway horse.  It has been peppered with moments of enlightenment, and moments of the runaway horse heading into a darkening sunset.  But the moments of enlightenment are the moments I am eager to explore and ready to being sharing. 

In November, after a visit with my brother who had been diagnosed with ALS, I returned to find that my husband’s doctor had discovered a suspicious nodule on his lung.  The nodule turned out to be nothing, but the tests revealed a mass in his other lung, and that has led us into this current journey; from Xray, to CT scan, to biopsy, to the severe complications from the biopsy which postponed the recommended surgery.  Now, one could get very upset on this journey. Fear could be the destination of the runaway horse. Or, one could find the blessings along the path.  We have, for the most part, chosen the blessings.  And they are many.  A prolonged wait time for surgery provides more time for his energetic body to return to wholeness; more time for prayer and spiritual healing.  The demands of his current treatment have given us a rare opportunity to spend time together.  It has given us multiple opportunities to witness the face of God in friends, family, and health care professionals. It has given us the opportunity to truly practice our Truth.  And, the dis-ease itself can be seen as a catalyst for a much greater healing that has nothing to do with tumors or lesions or PET scans at all. This healing is of the heart and soul. This healing is a joint venture between two souls committed to a common path; committed to their role in the evolution of the planet.  This healing is an opportunity for growth and transformation in unexpected and miraculous ways.  This healing is a miracle unfolding and I am excited at all that is being revealed.  I look forward to my first Sunday back at Unity of Livonia on March 12, 2017 (EDT) when I share some of the experiences of this journey in my talk titled “Life is Like a Box of Chocolates…”

©2017. Rev. Eileen DeRosia Patra. 

The Miracle of Hope

hope-dreamstimefree_30348689HOPE is a doorway to the miraculous.  HOPE is our ability to expect a positive outcome when there seems to be little evidence of it.  HOPE is the first glimmer of Faith that causes us to take action.  The woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment HOPED that she would be healed.  After 12 years of hemorrhaging, she saw a glimmer of HOPE in Him and His growing reputation as a miraculous healer. Jesus told her that her Faith had made her well.  Faith is HOPE in action. It is HOPE that causes the quickening of Faith, Strength and Will.  When we look out into the world and wonder how we can stop the hemorrhaging, it is this miraculous ability to have HOPE that stirs the greater power of the Christ in us to take positive action in order to manifest the peace, harmony and wholeness we wish to see and experience.  Through HOPE we know that our prayer intentions are more than just a plea to a chaotic universe.  Through HOPE we establish ourselves in the power and presence of the invisible Source of all peace and harmony.  We align our minds and hearts with the All-ness of God and our Faith returns us to the wholeness from which we come.  Today is the day to have HOPE and move in the direction of this miraculous stimulus for healing.

© 2016. Reverend Eileen DeRosia Patra

Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity minister currently serving at Unity of Livonia in Livonia, Michigan.

Paint A Miracle Today

paint-ccPAINT is a magical, miraculous substance capable of changing the color of an object.  A vast variety of pigments and tints can be added to this liquid substance to create a coating of the desired color and hue. Easily changed or even removed in its liquid state, PAINT becomes fixed when it dries.  Metaphysically, PAINT represents the thoughts and energy we project into our world and our experiences.  We can PAINT our thoughts or experiences in the color or hue of our choosing.  We can choose a color that vibrates with joy and harmony. Or, we can choose a color that constricts or vibrates with fear or anger.  Thoughts and energies held for long periods of time become fixed and require one or more coats of a new color, or new thoughts.  If I have been holding thoughts of fear or anger for a long period of time, it may require numerous affirmative thoughts to change the picture I have allowed to become fixed in my mind. Today, I paint a miracle. I paint the world with shades of Love, Healing, Acceptance, Forgiveness, Faith and Joy and they become fixed in my mind and in my life.

© 2016. Reverend Eileen DeRosia Patra

Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity minister currently serving at Unity of Livonia in Livonia, Michigan.  

A Miracle A Day, Day 63

hands.cc.5207435789_e2d3a3501e_zHANDS, a miraculous aspect of the physical body, provides us the ability to grasp, to pull, to push and to touch.  We use our hands to type, to fasten our clothing, to plant, grow, harvest and eat our food.  Our HANDS give us the ability to open doors and to create, build and operate all kinds of mechanical innovations.  HANDS give us the ability to touch.  They give us the ability to shake HANDS with others, to join HANDS in song, in protest, and in prayer.  With the fascinating structure of HANDS we can touch the soft skin of an infant, stroke the face of a loved one, and wipe the tears from another’s eyes.  We can lift weights, tools, and a child who has fallen and scraped a knee.  Our HANDS are more than the intricate structure of bone, cartilage and ligaments however.  They are also the housing of powerful energy centers.   Through our HANDS and fingertips, energy can be received, appropriated and projected.  Through our HANDS we can heal, direct, give and receive.  With HANDS we bless our food, our bodies and all that we choose to consecrate.  HANDS are a miracle and no doubt reflect what we might call the invisible but infinitely powerful HANDS of God.

© 2016. Reverend Eileen DeRosia Patra

A Miracle A Day, Day 44

face-985964_960_720EMPATHY, the ability to share another’s feelings as if they are our own lifts us into a higher realm of consciousness that more fully manifests our oneness.  Aligned with this higher realm of principle, EMPATHY has all the attributes of a miracle. Last night I witnessed an incredible display of this aspect of human consciousness as hundreds, if not thousands of people responded to a prayer request on Facebook.  It was clear that everyone responding could feel the feelings of the person requesting prayer.  Each person could imagine themselves in the same experience.  The outpouring of love and prayer and affirmations for healing was incredible.  EMPATHY drew together a massive number of people into a common prayer intention.  In the words of Jesus “… where two or more of you are gathered in my name, there I AM…”  This drawing together through the power of EMPATHY made visible a conscious communion with the Christ in each responder.  The power of this collective prayer consciousness is right now manifesting in right and perfect ways, drawing the wholeness of those involved into visible form.  EMPATHY is a miracle that draws together that which is already one, so that our oneness in Spirit is made more visible.

© 2016. Reverend Eileen DeRosia Patra

Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity minister currently serving at Unity of Livonia in Livonia, Michigan.  To view the entire Miracle A Day series, visit her Facebook page.