Hazy wisps of dreamlike impressions often come to me between sleeping and waking in the form of a song or word. Like a touch of angels’ wings, it turns the day to blues and greens and all the colors of the sky. Last Sunday morning as I curled under the sheet I heard a line from a worship song, “And to the healing virtue of Jesus, we say Amen.”

Why that song came I don’t know, except as Heaven’s response to prayers lifted for me. It’s an unexpected delight when praise is the first thing that sweeps through my mind in the early morning, especially when the hurts of others are heavy on my mind.

I learned while working with people with dementia that music can dwell in almost any part of the brain, in “anything above the neck,” one health professional joked. As Pastor Kathy says, how fun is that! Days later, that melody remained with me, streaming through the ordinary chores that compose my hours as a woman living with hope, “The healing virtue of Jesus…”

Virtue means honor, worth, goodness, integrity. Jesus offers all of His healing character to people crippled by wounds too deep for words. The Spirit groans within us, as I also groaned with grieving families this week.

It’s easiest to respond to His healing virtue when we’re grounded in the Word, which abounds with healings. St. Paul wrote new believers, “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2 NIV). The only way I can do that is by choosing love and beauty over darkness and doubt. When fear reveals it’s ugly head, I need to remember to cast it into the farthest sea.

St. John’s first small letter tucked at the back of the Bible focuses on love because, “Perfect love casts out fear…” (I John 4:8) The “Aramaic Bible in Plain English” paraphrases it to say, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear is by suspicion, but he who fears is not grown up in love.”

A Bible teacher once told me to remember Job’s comment, “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.” I never gave that much credence but now realize fear is a hallmark of cancer. I cannot allow myself the luxury of setting my mind on fear, not when heaven and earth offer life and breath today.

“GOD’S WORD® Translation” says it so simply,”No fear exists where his love is.” How perfect is that!

I have daily encounters with people living with burdens, most often cancer, opportunities to encourage others as I’ve been encouraged by so many. I’d love to meet Olivia Newton John, who does the same thing on a bigger scale. We both had our sacrum fractured by lesions, we are both thriving despite metastatic disease, and we were both born in the same year (although we may not look like it!)

I admire Olivia’s confident attitude and giving spirit. She considers where she lets her mind wander, mindful our thoughts can get us stuck in a bog. “I don’t think about cancer,” she says, and doesn’t pay attention to statistics because they “can tweak your mind into believing them. I’m not a statistic.” (www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/olivia-newton-john)

Our minds refuse to stay empty, however, continually filling up with junk or jewels. We can only rid our minds of junk by replacing it with gems. A Monarch butterfly for instance can be a precious gift, a messenger from God. This fragile creature, dependent on milkweed for its Eastern habitat, has the endurance to fly thousands of miles across North America to warmer climates. Millions are now packing their bags for the journey.

Darlene, a new friend recently diagnosed with breast cancer, let me share this email with you: “Today I went to the oncologist and had promising news. From the reports he feels it is stage one and since I am such a healthy person, feels I will do well…

“I felt a little lighter after that. I’m a positive person. The day I heard the word (cancer) from the doctor, I crumbled. I wanted to just stay home and hide in a corner, but that passed.

“I always believed everything happens for a reason. The coolest thing happened to me this morning. I was outside standing in our driveway when a Monarch butterfly kept flying above my head. I was being silly and held my hand up and said, ‘Come here, little fella.’

“That butterfly landed on the back of my hand and just sat there. I brought my hand to my face and felt such a connection while it looked at me. I was in awe! Then it opened its wings and flew up to the sky. I was speechless, I looked to sky and said out loud, ‘Lord, I got your message.’”

How incredible is that!

All will be well.

Texting Thru Recovery/Indiana Gazette

(Butterfly image: Pinterest. Olivia Newton John image: closerweekly.com. Photo of Josiah & me by our friend Anthony Frazier.)