The Art of Healing – Endurance

Endurance - the power to withstand hardship or stress; “the marathon tests a runner’s endurance”
Endure – to put up with; tolerate

Do you endure life or do you demonstrate endurance as you go through life? I used to believe that life was something to be endured – to just get through it as best I could. I had my moments of feeling close with God and boy did I pray to God asking God to relieve me of my burdens. But that was before I learned about endurance and before I discovered what and who I am really all about; before I fully entered into a relationship with God. For me, the difference between endure and endurance is love and gratitude. The key word in the definition of endurance is power and oh what power there is in love and gratitude.

So how did I go from enduring life to an endurance athlete (both in running and in life)? For me, it took the crisis of post polio syndrome to be reawakened and discover all the joys that life has to offer – joy, she’s talking about joy? Is she nuts? Look at the papers, look at the economy, look at your 401K, look at …. When I was first diagnosed with post polio syndrome I could have bemoaned my fate instead of opening my heart and finding the blessing – turning adversity on its head if you will and to heal my life. With a body being completely shut down, I had to turn inward and I discovered God speaking to me and through me. I discovered the power of being connected to God – and finding God everywhere.

Spring is a wonderful time to be reawakened – I look at the leaves and the flowers and hear the birds’ songs that seem to have suddenly, magically reappeared in the world. I feel God’s love and power pulsating through nature and I realize that I, as a child of God, have that power pulsating through me. I feel God’s love in the green grass, the gentle breeze, the fragrant scent that comes with a New England spring and I realize that as God so loved the world, God loves me and God so loves you!

That power – that love can be found in so many people, in so many places, in so many events and in all seasons – all we have to do is open our hearts and our eyes to experience that glorious, wonderful feeling of love. And with that love, life is no longer something to just be endured, it becomes a wonderful journey blessed by God’s grace to provide us with everything we need to go the distance.

Keep Awake
Keep awake and you shall see the signs along your way
Stir yourself from a spiritual sleep as you go about your day.

Give thanks, be grateful, remember -