Healing

Everyone has a special call on their life. Perceptions of whether they are great callings or small are irrelevant, because there really is no such thing. What one may view as a small thing can truly alter the Universe. In fact it does.

Ever hear of the 'Butterfly Effect'?The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause a tornado to appear (or prevent a tornado from appearing). The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale phenomena. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different. So there is no such thing as a small anything.

Healing is also that way. Every step one takes to become whole, to heal yourself or another is huge beyond belief. A small touch on a shoulder, a understanding look into another's eyes, a simple smile and projection of love could literally save another person's life.

I have viewed myself as a healer for sometime now, but really what does this mean? Does it make me special in anyway? Well, sure in lieu of what I just wrote it might, but the truth be told, I am in no way special because I have come to the realization that we are all, everyone one of us, called to be healers. Everyone one us share in this great gift of healing, whether it be to our own bodies and souls or to the ones around us. We are all called to bless and to heal. To speak life and not death.

It is so easy to spew poison into the Universe. But what toll does this take on us and the world around us. Speaking words of life and thinking words of life are what we are called to do. It must begin with ourselves. I once overheard brothers playing together, they were around the ages of nine and eleven. The older one became frustrated with himself and said, "I'm so stupid, I can't do anything right!" The younger one rebuked him saying, "You can't say that, that's lashon hara (lit. evil speech)". He informed his older brother that he could not speak lashon hara even about himself. Those were words of death.

The healing, the repair begins within ourselves. It must, because how can we care for others, lift others up if we are too lame to even walk ourselves. Does this mean we must wait to be wholly healed before we reach out. Not at all, because even as we are healing, perhaps only still limping, we can help a fellow on the journey. We speak life to ourselves and to others around us, even if only a whisper. In doing so we become stronger and heal even faster.

Perhaps this is one aspect of Rebbeinu's teaching, "If you believe you can damage, believe you can repair."

Let's go repair.