In every town and village there are homes, hundreds and thousands of them. And your home is one of them. It might be a flat or a house, or one room, small or large, poor or well appointed. To go through your door could be a special experience for anyone who comes to visit. Outside all our doors is noise worry, commercialism, trouble, gossip, bright lights, sadness, graffiti, or bickering.
To heal is to make better. Does your home make people better for having been in it? Do they go away warmed |
and strengthened by the oasis you have created? It has nothing to do with the style of the décor, or the newness of the furniture. Imagine a place where you could go after a day of hospital visiting or looking after toddlers, or dealing with personalities and politics and deadlines of work. When you walk through the door how would it be?
In a healing home you would sense a quiet welcome, and a sense of peace. You would be met by a smile. Instead of being met by newspapers, TV commercials, or heavy music, there would be a sense of country. Space, stillness, and serenity. The pictures on the walls take your eyes up winding paths through fields, or take you to stand by the sea and watch the waves. In a vase there are simple flowers or even a spray of leaves. It would be light and airy, the coolness would flow over you. Or it could be cosy with the warmth of welcome, a place to curl up in.
Do you share gossip or encouragement? There are a thousand things we can say that could be interesting, or things we want to say about our own lives, but how many heal and how many kill - kill someone's reputation, kill someone's trust. Resist the temptation to say these things, they do not change anything. Say only good things. Consciously to give, to cheer, to lift up, to take minds to something simple like stones in a bowl and recount the happy times you had collecting them is to re-create and heal someone who might be wounded in their soul. But it is you, yourself that really makes such a home. Do you allow visitors to be themselves, providing the space and the kindness where they can share their concerns, and not feel in competition with your difficulties? Make the drink on the tray a natural one that does not artificially lift the mood, so that the real person can quietly emerge in his or her own time.
To come to a healing home is to receive encouragement and a listening ear, to hear some good news, to feel a smile coming back. It is a place where, for a short time away from the outside world, shoulders can drop down, breathing and pulse rate slow up, and stomachs stop churning.
Many people need an oasis - not just friends and family. Could you make your home 'a healing home'? With a little gift to take away with them - a newly-baked loaf, or some little cakes, one or two flowers or vegetables, or a card with a message of hope, perhaps a surprise package - the healing will continue long after the visit. The memories of the visit will say - That was nice!
What about you? When you have given cheer, expecting nothing in return, you will find that you have been refreshed. You will feel tired maybe, but warmer. Your own problems are still there, but you are stronger to bear them. You will be planning new kindly schemes.
And the problems that have been shared with you? Mentally wrap them up and put them out. They do not belong to either of you now, for the healing has begun. |
