There is a difference between curing and healing disease. Some diseases are cured but the patient didn’t actually heal nor transform. In other cases, the patient doesn’t get cured, but they are healed. I wrote more about this in a blog post a few months back. That healing comes despite the prognosis of the disease. The goal is not necessarily to be cured – but rather to be healed. Sometimes we have to give ourselves the permission to heal. And other times, we have to show up for people and give them space to heal.

For those who have been following this blog for the past few weeks – our friend Robin thankfully is out of the ICU and was able to go back home. She beat pneumonia and COVID! And as she tells it, she used the power of gratitude to do so! Robin acknowledged that she felt the power of all the prayers you offered to her – so thank you for your prayers of healing. I can’t begin to tell you how many emails I got wishing her well and I let her know you were thinking of her. It makes a huge difference in how we heal.

Spiritual Healing
Many years ago, I went to a chiropractor and confessed that I was afraid of passing on my DNA. I had old ideas about the blueprint from which I came. We have so much disease in our family history. How could I knowingly pass these issues along to the next generation? My chiropractor then offered this answer. He said, “DNA is just a library. There are so many books within a library, we cannot read all of them. But we do get to decide which books we take off the shelf and focus upon. Thus, we have the power to choose which ‘book’ we want to read. What messages do we desire to tell ourselves? In the case of healing, we have the power to do so if we are willing to tap into the infinite power of the universe.

Despite whether or not we are cured, we can still be healed.

This is known as spiritual healing. We can heal in our soul, which can actually change our DNA. But I digress. Let me back up.

I am a teacher. Currently, I teach 5th graders, 7th graders, 10th graders, College students and adults. (Did you know I am an adjunct professor at Elmhurst University?)

https://www.elmhurst.edu/academics/departments/religious-studies/faculty/andrea-cosnowsky/

More than having the archetype of healer, I am a teacher of spiritual healing. The way I teach is through story, metaphor and by being a healing presence. I also teach others how to be a healing presence. The best way I have ever heard being a healing presence described is, “don’t just do something – stand there!”

We have the power to help others’ heal by just standing with them and allowing them to find their own path to healing. Conversely, when the patient is not interested in healing, we have to allow for that as well. We don’t know the soul agreement they have with their creator, and thus, we cannot judge their journey – rather, we can only hold the space for them to make their own way.

Walking A Spiritual Path
The way I teach each age group obviously varies. What is fascinating is that the struggle for each age group is very similar. Just yesterday, my 5th graders expressed fear about the rising rates of COVID in their particular school. My 7th graders were disinterested in my biblical teaching of the Samson and Delilah story. But they got fully engaged when I asked them to share what they were frightened about. The overriding worry was the virus hitting closer to home. Although I could not take away their fears about the present and near future, I could create the space where it was safe for them to express their fear without judgment.

And that is our job as spiritual seekers. We not only must seek the spiritual path for ourselves and our souls – but we have to show up for our fellow travelers who need healing. That’s why our prayer for Robin was so powerful. We were doing our job – walking the spiritual path and sending love and healing to another.

Spiritual Wholeness
Which brings me back to how we achieve wholeness. We can’t necessarily access wholeness for ourselves. But when we give prayer to others, it seemingly heals us. It’s a paradox – when we give something away – it comes back to us tenfold. We have seen examples of this happening in life:

• With tithing – even when we don’t seem to have the money to do so, when we do, more money comes back to us
• In being of service to others – we forget self and allow God to enter our lives and heal our issues.
• Focusing on our gratitude – we send a vibration to the universe and we are rewarded with a modicum of spiritual wholeness.

The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom. The Arabic word Saalam also means peace. Both come from the Semitic root word Shalem, which means wholeness. So when we greet someone with the words Shalom or Saalam, we are really offering to them a greeting of peace and wholeness. Which makes for a beautiful greeting. Because what is more holy than offering someone some much needed peace along their spiritual journey? And of course, the great paradox – when we offer another peace, it also is bestowed upon us as well.

Which is why I end my blog entry with this wish – “Until we meet again – may you be blessed with Shalom – may you be blessed with peace along your spiritual journey!”

Other blog posts about Healing:

http://rabbicosnowsky.com/the-need-for-us-to-attain-spiritual-health/

http://rabbicosnowsky.com/spiritual-health-and-spiritual-aliens/