Notes I took after reading Section One of the book (God's Psychiatry, by Charles L. Allen)
"Psychiatry" comes from two Greek words:
1. psyche: the person
2. iatreia: treatment, healing, restoring
David, the beloved Psalmist, wrote that the Lord "restores his soul."
This is God's Psychiatry.
When we look at "the person," we must think of the whole person: mind, body, and soul. A doctor can heal the first two, but only God can heal the soul.
The author of God's Psychiatry, Charles L. Allen, begins the books with "How to Think of God," using the 23rd Psalm. Allen tells the story of prescribing to a successful but unhappy businessman the prescription of reading Psalm 23 five times a day for seven days. In reading it, the man was to concentrate on the words.
Mother's Notes in the Margins:
In the margins, Mother wrote:
23 Psalm
Powerful
Writing n existence (I take this as "the most powerful writing in existence.")
7 days.
From My Journal:
Mother's prescription for God's healing of my wounded soul, I think, is to read the most powerful 118 words ever penned. Allen says the words are powerful because they send a positive, hopeful, faith-approach to life.
I need that.
"A man is what he thinks about all day long." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
"Change your thoughts and you change your world." (Norman Vincent Peale)
"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7)
Beginning today, I change my thoughts. I shift in thinking about what I lost in Mother's passing and start thinking about what I've gained in the Lord. What I've gained because she was my mother. What blessings her life bestowed on mine.
She was with me the first 53 years of my life. In that time, I received so much more than I could ever repay God for. I thank you, Father! Thank you that you gave to me such a WONDERFUL Mother! A godly example. A gift to all who knew her. Help me to start with that. Instead of seeing what I lost, I must look at what I had when I had it. Such a treasure. I will not wallow in the pity of losing her but rejoice in the gift of having had her for a time.
Come Heal With Me:
What have you lost that has left you feeling so empty you sometimes think you cannot breathe for the losing of it?
What about the "having it" was so special? What treasure was within?
Thinking more about the treasure and less about the losing, what treasure are you then left with?
For the next seven days, read The 23rd Psalm (see below) at least three times a day, five if you can. Don't just run through it. Say it slowly enough that the words penetrate your very core. Think of this recitation in terms of a prescription from your doctor. If he told you, "Take three times a day," you'd place the pill bottle somewhere so you would not forget. Do the same here.
Until Next Week,
Eva Marie Everson
Psalm 23 (New King James Version)
Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd;I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
Forever.
Beautiful job, Eva. I love Psalm 23. As you know, I've lost my mother, my father, and my youngest sister. As you say, I'm thankful for the years God gave me with them, only four with my father, but many more with my mother, and 41 with my sister. Mother raised me on Bible verses, and I'm who I am today because God blessed me with her as a mother. This is very healing, and I know it will bless many. At first, I felt sorry for myself. I can remember going through denial when I was losing my sister. I didn't want to lose her. Finally, I had to face it, and I did on my knees beside my bed with God. Thanks for your healing words. Blessings, Barb
ReplyDeleteEva, this is a worthy journey. One to cherish. My daddy died in 1994 and even though things are so much better than the first few years, sometimes I feel as lost I did when it happened.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have to concentrate on the blessing it was to call him Daddy.
Thank you for the reminder.
This is beautiful and also a tribute to the kind of woman your Mother was. Thank you for sharing her words of healing as well.
ReplyDeleteMany blessings to you Eva.
Hugs
Katt
Hi Eva Marie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for doing this. I'll be following along. I won't even need to open my Bible to find the 23rd Psalm. My father had it printed on a bookmark that he gave to me when my mother died. It's always near.
Typical of me to just be starting to read these now - one day I won't be a procrastinator!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this journey. I still have my mother...sort of. Three years ago last month, she had what we refer to as "the episode" because we don't really know what happened to her, and the doctors never could figure it out. Mother has lost most of her short term memory and her personality has changed markedly - she used to be Pollyanna and now seems to be "stuck" in worry and negativity. So I'm grieving with you in a much lesser way; and "grieving" that my only daughter has grown up and begun her own life and I'm on a different continent (literally.) It's so encouraging to read your words and know I'm not alone.