A,

I was needing you. I was worried about you over the last several weeks, and I know this sounds just absolutely nuts.
I was worried about rain, your legs, and travel.

I can't say why, but I felt compelled to tell you this. I had been driving, and thinking of you, and was wondering about you. Then, when LilSis' thread went to her worries, I wondered if you would post about St. Theresa or roses, but that day at work during my drive between buildings, I had already been worried about your traveling, and the rain (I know this is stupid). The worries had already been there, and you didn't post. I thought perhaps you had checked on her, and wondered if that was why I had thought about you.

I have had this happen before, with people very close to me. It's never happened with a complete stranger before, at least not this strongly.

The night before my daughter totalled her car, I did not sleep. I was up all night, worried that she was going to wreck her car. I begged her not to go to the mall, and told her that I just could not stand it. She went anyway, and was hit broadside by a speeding car.

Same daughter: She had been feeling poorly earlier in the day but was better in the evening, and I told her she couldn't go out with her friends. She told me that I was being stupid, and that she couldn't believe that I wouldn't let her go out because of my "feeling". She insisted she was fine, did not have a fever, and was perfectly able to go to the movies. She had emergency surgery two hours after that conversation and was in the hospital for three days.

I get this stuff every now and then, and I used to blow it off, until the night before the car wreck. Now, I pay attention, pray, and tell people. Even if it sounds stupid.

So, you have been prayed for. Regardless of how stupid it sounds!!!!

SB

doesn't sound stupid to me !

Hi SB
I've got a friend that has THOSE FEELINGS!!!!

I think it's kewl, not stupid. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Bump For Athanasius...Very interested in the response...

Mrs. W

Dear Schoolbus,

Thank you for your intercession on my behalf in response to those intuitions. I take these things seriously. I think rationalists are crazy to ignore them. (Did you see my posts advising MrsW about exorcism?)

When was this exactly? Do you remember? Have the intuitions of danger to me passed?

I travelled two weekends in March and have more travel planned after Easter. I was caught in the rain walking across town a few weeks ago and got soaked to the knees. Maybe there was a risk of my getting clipped by a vehicle and hurt in the legs? Perhaps your prayers saved my legs -- anyway nothing happened.

I stopped posting because MB had become, although interesting, a distraction from my real life. I couldn't continue following LilSis's thread since it was growing 50 pages a week. Plus I trust St. Therese to take care of her. This weekend I stopped back in to visit MB, but I intend to slip back into silence.

It's strange that you have such a strong intuitive connection with me. That's why I asked if you needed me for something. Maybe that intuitive connection brought me back here to help you in some way?

Thanks for the bump, Mrs.W. I had missed this.

Did you perform that exorcism? How did it go?

I was particularly worried last week with regard to rain. It would have been on either Tuesday or Thursday that you were on my mind, because those are the days that I travel between buildings most often.

The leg issue remains along with the travel. I'm worried about if you run or walk, and weakness/pain, your legs are just so important in this fear, and I know you're going somewhere. But it's not related to a car at all.

Yes, I need help to be able to be more calm. I'm in a very stressful position now - I'm trying to change jobs, looking for insurance, and have to work some challenging hours for the next two months. I very much want to work in private practice, but need health insurance, and am stressed about finding it. Also, the stress from the worries about the affair, things that run through my head so much, I find them challenging me more than usual. I'm just worrying too much, and need to find a prayer for this.

Can you help?
SB

It wasn't raining Tuesday or Thursday last week where I am.

You're right, I'm planning to fly on Easter. My flight was unexpectedly cancelled on Tuesday. I bought a replacement on Thursday. Curiouser and curiouser.

I walk all the time. It's normal here (Europe). I have no weakness or pain in my legs.

Got any further intuitions about preventive steps? Be careful with running on the trip? Switch from plane to train? Don't go at all?

Are you afraid of physical harm to me?

I don't know any anti-worry prayers off the top of my head. It's not a problem I've had. My life's been fairly untroubled by serious worries. I ran out of money once and lived on potatoes for a month, but that was about it.

Some specific prayers that might be helpful spring to mind, but they're all rather Catholic in flavor: the intercession of St. Joseph to find work and health insurance, the St. Michael prayer to drive away evil thoughts, the rosary for general calm. What denomination are you? Trading prayers across denominations is all very well but I can't imagine a non-Catholic feeling comfortable praying the rosary! But if you like I can elaborate.

When I do free-form prayer, I usually sit down, calm myself, start with a Hail Mary and Our Father at the beginning to put myself in The Presence, then focus my attention on, first my body, then my emotions, then my soul....and any discomforts, worries, tensions, or concerns I notice, I present to the Lord, asking for help if I think I know what the problem is, just presenting the difficulty if I don't. When I reach the soul level, since the problems there are actual sins, I also ask for forgiveness and grace. I guess I'm trying to present my whole being to the Lord so His grace can affect all of it. Once that's done, I turn to other kinds of prayer: either intercession (asking for specific things for other people, usually expanding from those closest to me to those farthest away: people from my daily life, immediate friends and family, MBers, our soldiers, the whole world....), or thanksgiving and praise, or contemplation, in which I try to remain still and silent in God's Presence and just listen. Usually just one of those, as trying to do all four in one session would be too long. Then I close the prayer with the sign of the cross or a Glory Be or both.

I suppose that by this prayer technique I touch naturally but systematically on everything I might worry about. Once I've presented it to God there doesn't seem to be any point in worrying. Often I come out of a good prayer session and take immediate concrete steps to begin solving something that was worrying without me being quite aware of it or that made me feel trapped and helpless.

I hope that helps.

God bless.

I'm praying for you too schoolbus...

From a "worry sister",
~Saturn

A,

It rained like crazy here yesterday, very bad storm with lightning, hail, thunder. The sky was very dark over my home, but bright red in the west - lightning in between. Beautiful but frightening at the same time. And I prayed for you. It passed. The legs, the rain, and the worry for you.

Strange. Because you didn't fly. And I knew it wasn't a car!!! and now I'm happy and the stress is completely gone.

Except I don't want you to eat a chocolate bunny all at once, because you'll get a tummy ache.

I'm coming to terms with the job thing. I have to decide whether or not to quit the job I have, which is very meaningful, but doesn't pay as much as one that isn't as meaningful but pays more.

Seems like a no-brainer to me.

But money does have its advantages.

I feel better about you, A. Thursday is better for planes for you. Much much better.

And thanks for the prayer ideas. I know that I need to let God just "have it". I know that. But as Saturn knows, we worriers, well, we have to have SOMETHING to do!

SB

Oh, almost forgot....

I don't know that I am a "denomination".

I've been to every type of church you can name, and some you probably never heard of.

I'm a believer.

In many things, God first.

SB

schoolbus - Since I have been providing individual health insurance to my clients for the past 10 years, I don't understand your "stress" about finding an individual health plan. What is it that is "stressing you" about that? Perhaps I can point you in a direction that will help, but unless you have some medical problems that would prevent you from qualifying for a health plan, there are several of them that are available to individuals.




Also an interesting statement. "Finding a prayer" is not the answer, imho. Simply praying to God about your concerns, what you want, and that it be done according to His will is all that is needed. A believer HAS the only intercessor that is needed in the second person of the Trinity, Jesus. Prayer to anyone else is not only unneeded, it is not Scriptural and will not be heard by God.

It is not the prayer itself that is needed, it is the humble submitted will that God looks for. Understand that God already knows your situation and your needs and that no matter what your circumstances, He is all that any believer needs. Prayer focus' our hearts and minds on God, the one true Sovereign, to help us to be in His will and to bring our concerns directly to Him as a child brings its concerns to its father. You don't pray to an aunt or an uncle, or even to a brother, you take it directly to the Father through Jesus, and through no one else.

You can also make your needs known to other believers who may also be in a position to lend you some support or help, from actual physical help to intercessory prayer on your behalf, also directly to the Father.




And I'll bet that you are dreaming a lot too. One of the minds' ways of trying to "deal with" some of that stress.

But the "bigger issue" is the "worry" itself. Perhaps you'd care to talk about that a little, as "worry" applies to a believer. If you'd care to explore that a little, let me know and we could spend a little time discussing "worry" in the life of a believer.

God bless.

FH,

This will absolutely drive you crazy, I know it, but okay, here goes.

I am not a "Christian" in the sense that others define it.

I believe in Christ, yes, as the Son of God. I have read the Bible, and have studied in the Christian faith, in several denominations (Catholic was one of them, a long time ago!). I'm not, however, really one for quoting the scriptures - my mind doesn't work that way and never really has. Some people are great at it, I admire that. Just not a strength for me.

I have traveled many roads of many faiths. Historically, I have been a worrier. I have dealt with a great deal of stressors in my life (rape, physical abuse, to name two). In the last two years, my life besides the affair has been a near disaster area, with so many stressors that I can barely enumerate them:

husband had cancer and cancer surgery
father had cancer and cancer surgery
mother fell and broke hip and shoulder
one of my young patient/students died unexpectedly
one of my patient/students nearly died and had transplant
daughter divorced
SIL heart surgery
BIL just diagnosed with same cancer as my husband this week
I had breast surgery

This list goes on.......anyway. The problem is that my husband's cancer will make health insurance unlikely. So, now it looks like I will have to make adjustments to the plan I had in mind for my change in direction, thus tying me to the job I have now at least in part........and therein lies the stressor of:

having to work with the OWH.

He is a very nice man. We are (and have been) friends, and he is gentle and patient and loving. She, otoh, is a sl&t who does not deserve him, and continues to see other men in spite of all that has happened. He stays for his DDs, who are in their adolescent years. On occasion, our jobs require that we are in meetings together, and it makes things hard for me. I was hoping to quit this job, but without health insurance, that will not work out the way I had planned.

So I have to make other plans. And fast, due to the way the contract years work. Hence, the stress and worry continue.

What I mean about "finding a prayer" - I tend to lose focus when I pray. My mind wanders! I like it when I have more of a plan of what I want to say, some sort of outline. Maybe not so much a repetitious thing, but a guide for me. Just helps me to keep myself from straying.

I do meditate, which helps with the stress. My leanings in thought about the world are that God is in us, and with us. We just need to hear Him, and we don't listen enough.

lol! Schoolbus, nothing you said "drives me crazy."




Here's the "rub," if you will. It has nothing to do with how "others" define what it means to be a Christian. It solely has to do with what God has said it takes to BE a Christian. The Word of God IS God talking to humanity and telling them HOW one becomes His adopted child.

Believing that Jesus is the Son of God will not "save" anyone, according to the Scripture. That's not an opinion or a definition as "others" define it, it is God's stated fact. Even Satan and the fallen angels believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but "knowledge" alone will not save anyone.


It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, that I am sorry for all the bad events in your life.




Please forgive me, but I don't know what sort of job you have (if I've read it in the past, "old timers disease" has taken its toll and I don't remember) or what it is you'd rather "strike out on your own to do."

I don't know what your family income or resources are either.

But there ARE potential options for you whereby your husband can get individual insurance.

The "simplest," though the more expensive of the options, is to (assuming he is on your current policy at work) go through the 18 months of COBRA and when it ends get a "Creditable Coverage" policy. Under that scenario, he CANNOT be refused coverage if you want it and are willing to pay the premium. That is part of the HIPAA law.

As for other options, I'd need to more about his current status (and I don't want you to divulge personal health information on a public forum). Essentially, if the cancer has been treated and he is in recovery from the cancer, there are other policies that you could also consider.


God bless.

Thank you, SB. I appreciate your efforts on my behalf. I feel a lot better now that whatever we've done has averted whatever was threatening.

Well, if you have no objection to using Catholic prayers, I don’t think the Church objects to you using them. For these nagging thoughts I recommend the prayer to St. Michael. (There’s a whole catalog of others at http://fisheaters.com/prayers.html.)

Now, according to tradition, the whole human drama started when Lucifer, the chief of the angels, rebelled against God and fell and became Satan and then started tempting humans into rebellion. Chief of the loyal angels was Michael. He led the loyal angels and used his flaming sword to drive the rebellious angels out of Heaven.

The first Christian monks and hermits, in the Egyptian desert, who were trying to achieve serenity and peace through meditation and prayer, were also much troubled by evil thoughts and wandering minds. Instead of seeing those as purely internal, as we do, they saw it as evil spirits whispering into their minds, in order to distract them.

So, if you want to look at it their way, constant worries, painful memories, and so on are being suggested to you by a hostile evil spirit. Who better to ask for help than the mighty Archangel who drove the evil spirits from Heaven in the first place? Ask him to interpose His flaming sword between you and the evil thoughts, and drive away the evil spirit who torments you and seeks your ruin.

This traditional prayer goes as follows:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into ******, Satan and all the other evil spirits, who wander throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Hope that helps!

The "short answer," Athanasius, is God is better, and the only one who we are to direct our prayers to. We don't pray to ANY created beings, we pray to God.

A, thanks for the prayer. I will work with it to make it "my own". It is what I needed.

Bless you in your newfound relationship. I hope that you find "home" with her.


FH,
In my search for peace, I have found that I separate things in a very different way than other people do when it comes to religion and spirituality.

I see religion - that is, denominations, church-going, praying, the "rituals" - as the physical form that one takes in the worship system or process of worshipping God. For example, does one kneel to pray, fold one's hands together or lift them overhead? Do we pray to the saints, or directly to God? Do we wear dresses or jeans to church? Are women allowed to lead the service, or only men?

I call this "religion". In my own mind, this is swept up in rituals, rules, laws of various churches and groups. What makes one a Protestant versus a Catholic. What makes one person believe he is more "Christian" than the next. It bothers me, frankly. Because I don't, no, I can't, buy into it. That is why I say that I don't affiliate with a "denomination". Because the rules are off-putting to me, and the rituals push too many people back from the salvation line that otherwise would be overrun. What I'm trying to say is that the fighting between what I see as small issues, and yes, that is my own opinion, but I do see it that way - has actually driven me away from what used to be regular church attendance and very high involvement in a church.

I have evolved my belief system. I understand more clearly, now. I see my relationship with God as a "spiritual" relationship. I pray to Him. I understand his use of mortals as intercessors for Him in His grand plans, and see my own place in His world. I am humbled by His greatness.

I also am far more understanding of what the differences are between what my former dogmatic beliefs were, and how they crippled my full understanding and relationship with God. I was crippled, because I failed to see His greatness, His action in people in my life. I failed to see His miracles in daily life, because I closed off my belief of their abilities - because they did not believe as I did. My own legalism closed so many doors.....

Then something changed. A three year old child asked one, very obvious question, in a church, of all places.

At the Church of Loreto in Santa Fe, NM.

A 3 year old child had climbed up onto the Miraculous Staircase, built with no nails. It has 33 stairs. Built in the 17th century, with wood not native to the area, by a carpenter who showed up after the nuns at the chapel prayed for help to build a staircase to get into the choir loft in the chapel. It is a spiral staircase, not anchored at the top nor the bottom, and has NO CENTER SUPPORT. NO NAILS. The carpenter bent the wood using only water. It sits on the floor and is perfectly proportioned to the exact height of the loft. He did not buy the wood in town, and no one knows where it came from.

The 3 year old had climbed up on the staircase, which is roped off, so people will not go up on it. This is to preserve it.

As I entered the chapel, everyone was staring at the child, who was up about 2/3 of the way. I told her to come down, that people were not allowed up there.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because it is special. Because people believe Jesus built this staircase. You wouldn't want to damage it."

"Well, if Jesus built it, then I couldn't possibly hurt it, could I?" she said.

The entire group of people, nuns included, turned to look at me, waiting expectantly for my reply. The answer was obvious.

"Just get down."

She did.

The child's name? Grace.


The point to me was that she taught me that nothing I could "do" in my worship rituals would be "wrong" for God. I just at that point seemed to understand, there in that Catholic church, that God isn't so much into "things", or rituals of man, but more into ME. My soul. My living love for Him, and my soulful relationship with Him.

That is my "denomination" now. It is how I try to live my life, and how I try to worship Him. I don't try so much to concentrate on where my church is, or what kind of sermon I heard this Sunday. God can worry about that for me. Because, HE KNOWS MY HEART.

Wow. I've never tried to explain myself on this before. It's not perfect. But it is "in the ballpark", at least on the idea of the "religion vs. spirituality" part....

SB

thanks for sharing