Spring has arrived! And with spring, comes an opportunity, an opening, for healing. March carries us into a season traditionally linked to the promise of nature's renewal--the gradual fading of winter harshness and the first hints of life and natures quickening into blossom and new growth. Yet, we are living in times of erratic change on so many levels, including climate and the rhythms of nature.
This month, The Lancet, a leading journal of world wide clinical, public and global health knowledge, published an article on "Climate realignment: the US shift and global implications." (cited below) The author is clear that divisive public perception of Climate change remains a barrier to positive solutions. But, he offers the long term possibilities for recovery and adaptation (already taking place globally), as collective vision shifts from "unpopular, resentful regulations" to opportunities for economic growth, through creative climate technology and global invention. This recognition spotlights a reframing of an approach to climate change by initiating positive, economic opportunities that expand over time. I am using this as an example of shifting a point of view. Spring 2025 offers us an opening to reframe and claim our own renewal and healing, despite upheaval and uncertainty.
Another medical article that landed in my email this month summarized a recent study published in BMJ Evidence Based Medicine, analyzing a vast range of non-surgical and non-interventional treatments for adults used by people with low back pain, and compared to placebo. The study reported that only 10% of those treatments were effective, and provided only small pain relief beyond placebo. Underlying the article, and various medical commentaries, was the idea of further research in the quest for specific a healing treatment, along with pain management. It struck me that there is rarely--if ever--one exclusive path of medical treatment, and certainly when we consider healing in a broader field of healing possibilities, we don't know the limits. Healing is multi-modal. Whether we term it spiritual healing or holistic healing or medical healing, life is interwoven with life. An injury, an illness, a heart-ache, a loss impacts our bodies, mind and emotions, our relationships and activity, our work and "place in life". We often ignore the "periphery"; but multi-layered "wounds" impact our well-being. We learn to compensate, or we focus on healing. We may shift life around us, turn to professionals and friends as treatment and support--conscious or otherwise, we are invoking expanded health practice. The pentacle of this layered healing is prayer.
In my way of seeing spirituality, prayer takes many forms. It is the meeting point, the connection between our everyday selves, and our sense of a vast, larger field of Life that we are enfolded in and that is enfolded within us. Call it anything you want. Because it is a point of connection, and in its own way communication, exchange, we offer the layers of our lives, the places we are stuck, lost, or hurting. Enter prayer from any point or thought within you. Ask and accept, or simply share and receive. Let it lead you in self-care. Your healing this Spring, whatever level, is the world's healing. (Susan Nettleton)
Poetry: https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/guest-house/ https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/R/RosenstockGa/SpringWitha/index.html https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47247/in-just
References: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00320-4/fulltext Published March 5, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00320-4 Also available on ScienceDirect Copyright: © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.
BMJ Evidence Based Medicine https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2025/03/02/bmjebm-2024-112974