As a Reiki practitioner I am very interested in
rejuvenation. I know how it feels to be rejuvenated, restored and renewed. I am
also keenly aware of how it feels to be exhausted, worn out and depleted. Many
of us learn to live with a constant state of exhaustion or a low level of
energy. At certain times in life, surviving a hectic schedule is unavoidable;
while raising our babies, while attending graduate school, while serving in the
military and numerous other life experiences.
As a
fellow human, I am always searching for ways to rejuvenate my self and others.
I have been blessed to be able to travel internationally and to accompany my
husband on his business trips and to visit many sacred and ancient sites
throughout the world. When you visit a sacred site, you are immersed in all the
prayerful and healing energy that has built up there over time. Of particular
interest to me, are the Mother Mary or Virgin Mary sites.
Exploring places where either Mother Mary has appeared
in the past, such as Fatima in Ourém,
Portugal or visiting the Jasna Góra Monestary Cathedral in Częstochowa, Poland where
the Black Madonna painting is on
display or experiencing the House of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus, Turkey, where she spent her final days; each provided
an amazing opportunity to witness the faith of the pilgrims and the power of
prayer. While all three of these sites are considered to be top Pilgrim sites
of the world, much is lost in translation for me when you are sharing this
experience with hundreds of thousands of other believers, simultaneously suffering
from the baking heat of the day and / or fearing being trampled in the rushing
crowd of religious fanatics.
I am a sensitive person and I am easily
overwhelmed by the masses of humanity coming together in the name of the Divine
and the Sacred. Somehow the crowd mentality takes precedence over the Spiritual
experience and it is everyone’s task to remain centered in the Divine in the
midst of all the chaos. Not always an easy task. While I do feel I received
healing and that my prayers were heard in Fatima and in Częstochowa, the static
of the masses diluted the experience for me. What I do have though is the
ability to tap into those locations remotely by memory, remembering their
healing essence. Anyone can do this, we may not realize it yet.
What made my visit to the House of the Virgin
Mary so miraculous was that I not only got to pray for healing alone in the
chapel for 15 min, but that I was also weak from a near miss of an intestinal
disturbance, so that once I walked out of the chapel, I could feel the contrast
of how restored I then felt. The miracle of restored health was quite palpable
as was the energy coming in through my head as I stood and prayed inside the
chapel.
Surprisingly, yesterday, in my own country,
outside the town of Emmittsburg, MD, about 90 minutes away from Shepherdstown
WV by car, I have once again been renewed and rejuvenated through a visit to a
Mary shrine. The National
Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes was last visited by me in the 1990’s. At that
time it was a very rustic hike through the woods up a small mountain path to
the sacred spring and tiny chapel. Now, it is a modern shrine with paved
walkways, numerous statues, a visitor’s center and a beautiful, easily reached
spring and tiny chapel. Wednesday afternoon was a quiet day to visit the shrine
and I suspect that the weekends are crowded due to the size of the parking lot
we parked in.
The sweetness of this little shrine provided
easy access to praying while strolling through the natural setting of
statue-filled alcoves. Having the spring to ourselves for 15 minutes made all
the difference, speaking with friendly fellow pilgrims and sitting in the tiny
chapel alone amidst the stained glass reflections added to the loving ambiance
held there.
I prayed for all my loved ones to receive
healing, prayed for the world, the leaders and everything I could think of.
Again, I prayed to receive all the Divine Blessings of healing that were
available to me and again, I have received what I have asked for. Feeling
depleted from our recent travels to Poland and to visiting family in Germany, I
was in definite need of rejuvenation. Waking today, with renewed energy is a
gift I am deeply grateful for and wishing to inspire others to seek the same.
Rejuvenation is available, closer than you think and well worth a little drive
down the road.
