SPIRITUAL FIRST AID

While pondering what to write this week, a fellow deacon sent me a pamphlet entitled, “Spiritual First Aid.” Published by the Humanitarian Disaster Institute (HDI), it’s a compendium of advice for helping people in times of crisis. (HDI is a faith-based academic research center.) In it is a list of Scriptures that have been found to be comforting. Here are some of them.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor power, nor heights, nor depth
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:37
Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
Bear one another’s burdens
and in this way you will fulfill the laws of Christ.
Galatians 6:2

The pamphlet also offers, in its 54 pages, some advice for coping.

• Breathe – a few deep breaths.
• Talk - to a friend.
• Mental Picture – a place where you feel happiest.
• Walk – get some safe, but physical, exercise.
• Music – play music that speaks to your soul. Rest – as much as you can.

And remember, as Sunday’s Gospel tells us, Jesus will not leave us orphaned.

​Mary McCue