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Beyond Blue

This gallery of prayers offers solace, healing, and support from several world traditions. And you can post your own prayer for the lost and bereaved of Virginia Tech on Beliefnet’s prayer circle.

Dr. Remen, who spends her life comforting sick people, wrote this in her chapter “Just Listen” (part of “Kitchen Table Wisdom“): “One of my patients told me that when she tried to tell her story people often interrupted to tell her that they once had something just like that happen to them. Subtly her pain…

Harold Kushner explains what NOT to say to a grieving family in his classic “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” using as an illustration the story of Job (the faithful, righteous, and pious man who loses his livestock, house, servants, and children, and is afflicted with boils all over his body). Having lost his…

I’m grasping for words today. What do you write the day after the deadliest shooting in U.S. history? I can barely look at the front page Washington Post photo of the wounded being carried from Norris Hall, an academic building at Virginia Tech, where 30 of the slayings occurred. I’m not sure if it’s disrespectful…

Yesterday I mentioned my wise theology professor, Keith Egan. In an article entitled “Banishing Anxiety,” he wrote the following about hope: “Hope is a call to choose life and to choose it to the full, to live vibrantly knowing that Jesus Christ did not die in vain. The hope offered by Jesus has roots in…

The deadliest killing spree in U.S. history happened this morning: at least 32 people killed and more than two dozen others injured during the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech (according to the latest “Washington Post” story). I’m afraid to read the whole report because it will trigger the same debilitating anxiety I felt in October…

My hair is in place, but boy am I having a bad compassion day! This is where I went wrong: I read an op-ed entitled “Self-Help’s Slimy ‘Secret’” by Tim Watkin in the “Washington Post.” Not a smart activity given that I already have major (MAJOR) issues with the way Rhonda Byrne has repackaged the…

This beautiful prayer by Mother Teresa articulates for me what pure compassion looks like. If it were shorter, I’d have it memorized. (But my spiritual hard drive has very little memory–thus, the post-its and clutter around my desk.) Dear Jesus,Help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.Flood our souls with your Spirit and life.Penetrate…

Since it is now the Easter Season (according to the church year), I thought I’d mention some words spoken by the Risen Lord that help me with my anxiety and depression: “Do not be afraid.” (Matt. 28:9) “Woman, why are you weeping?” (John 20:15) “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so…

The following passage from J. Raymond DePaulo Jr.’s book, “Understanding Depression,” was helpful to me in knowing what to look for in a doctor, and when to go for a second (and third, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth, and seventh) opinion (My notes are in brackets): “The best patient care requires three components: a…
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