Northern Reflections on Health

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God’s goodness dispels the darkness

April 24, 2017 By Wendy Margolese 12 Comments

God's goodness dispels darknessMy article published in the Christian Science Monitor:

In my late 30s, my mother and my mother-in-law, both cherished people in my life, passed away within days of each other. I reeled from grief and felt a darkness overwhelm me. I felt orphaned – bereft of the unconditional love that both these women had expressed toward me.

But I love the Bible, and I knew that it challenges us to look outside the human sense of things and to have faith in God and His role in our lives – that is, to understand God as the source of all good. I’ve also learned that this divine goodness is the truth of our experience, in which happiness and health are our normal condition.Continue Reading

Grace and gratitude – a healthy combination

November 21, 2016 By Wendy Margolese 2 Comments

I will occasionally revisit some of the popular blog jewels of the past few years – a little freshened up and refurbished.  Some of my newer readers may not have seen these, and they’re great reminders for those of us who do remember them. Thank you for reading!

grace and gratitude bring blessingsMany cultures around the world have unique ways of offering grace before a meal, whether over a bowl of pasta or a plate of Pad Thai. As a Baby Boomer, I remember saying grace at the family dinner table each evening – a moment to reflect on not only the bounty before us, but also on other blessings of the day.

However, statistics show the ritual of saying grace before a meal is trending downward with less than half of us today taking a quiet moment to express gratitude.

This shift is happening for lots of different reasons. I have wondered if one of the reasons for this reticence to give gratitude is a fear that goodness can be limited in our lives – that we can experience limited health, limited income, limited happiness.

Why is gratitude important? How can it impact this limited feeling?

Ask Robert Emmons, professor at the University of California, Davis, who is acknowledged as today’s pre-eminent expert in the study of gratitude. His studies have shown that a conscious focus on blessings improved moods, coping skills and overall physical well-being.

Emmons says, ‘Gratitude is one of the few things that can measurably heal, energize and change people’s lives. It is a turning of the mind, not what I don’t have, but what I have already.’

My friend Carol found that a conscious focus on blessings did measurably improve her health when everyone around her had the flu. She awoke one morning with the symptoms, but instead of reacting with fear, she immediately started thinking about everything she had to be grateful for. She acknowledged that God was an ever-present, divine source of good in her life. In her study of the Scriptures she found examples of the goodness God gives his beloved creation that include health as well as supply. And since God’s abundance is, by nature, eternal and all encompassing, then good is never limited. Very quickly, she felt totally well, and went about her day.

The flip side of the grateful coin is ingratitude that blocks our ability to see what we already have. Mary Baker Eddy, theologian and author, asks the pointed question: “Are we really grateful for the good already received?” And follows with this promise: “Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more.”

Being grateful even before good is evident, is also illustrated in a well-known Bible story. When Jesusgratitude and fulfillment was faced with feeding a crowd of thousands, right in the midst of what looked like real lack he saw what his disciples did not – that since God is infinite good and present everywhere, there could be no limit to the divine provision for the crowd.

Jesus gave thanks for what they had and then instructed his disciples to feed the people. Remember the ending? Substantial leftovers!

If true health, provision, and happiness come from an understanding that the good in our life has a constant source in the Divine, then we can and should acknowledge frequently that good is ongoing and infinite. Fresh ideas are waiting to come to light as we humbly and prayerfully listen, not for an influx of material gain, but for a recognition of how near to us God, good really is.

For all of its apparent benefits, practicing gratitude is a good idea! Pairing it each day – however briefly – with an activity we enjoy (like meals), can help to make gratitude a more regular part of our lives.

As I am a community blogger for Metroland Media, read this post on OurWindsorON.

 

What can cool the heat of anger?

August 1, 2016 By Wendy Margolese 8 Comments

anger summer heat
Hotheaded when the mercury rises?

We are in the middle of another wonderful summer. But this year temperatures have soared to record highs throughout the country, and a common opinion is that hot days can test our tempers.

“Many people feel a little hotheaded when the mercury rises”, says Nancy Molitor, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry and behavioral science at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Everyone’s fuse is going to be a little bit shorter,” she avers.

Accepting this as an unavoidable condition of our nature isn’t necessarily useful in guiding our actions, however, and responding in the “heat of the moment” often causes us to react in a way we later regret. It has been my experience that a heated reaction need not be the outcome. I have often found that considering a spiritual perspective – with God, good, as the only legitimate cause and effect in our lives – can reverse the so-called effects of nature.Continue Reading

Where is God when wildfires strike?

May 13, 2016 By Wendy Margolese 15 Comments

WildfireWildfires, earthquakes and other disastrous forces of nature have been coined “acts of God”. Some insurance companies use this wording in contracts to designate disastrous events over which we seem to have no control.

This infers that when the forces of nature negatively impact our lives, God is responsible. And a possible second inference would be that, if God is responsible, it would be senseless and ineffective to pray about them.

Yet, many of us are praying for the people affected by the wildfire situation in Alberta. We pray because this activity can produce practical results – it can bring comfort, create an ability to think clearly and creatively in distressing situations, and avert a worsening of the crisis.

A good example of this was the rescue Continue Reading

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Wendy Margolese

Wendy_Margolese

I was born and raised in a small Northern Ontario mining town. You can never take the warmth of the North out of a girl’s heart. So, I would like to take this opportunity to share heartfelt thoughts with you about a topic important to each of us – our health and well-being. Visit my About page to learn more.

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