Recovery vs Healing

You know I often speak about mental health challenges. When I do, I do not talk about healing, but instead I speak about recovery. Recovery is defined as a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.

In thinking about what to write here today, I thought about of a discussion we had in the Adult Bible Study this last Sunday.  One of the participants said there was no healing of the pain caused by their spouse’s death.  And it is true that some things can’t be healed, but there can be recovery.  Knowing that recovery is not only possible but probable with treatment and support gives me hope which causes me to promote my recovery.  And I believe there can be recovery from grief, even deep grief.

During the pandemic, all of us have suffered losses – some of us have had overwhelming losses.  And many of us wish we could return to what we once had (what was normal for us, what we were comfortable with and what we could expect).  Part of recovery is realizing that we will never return to what was.  And while this is part of the grief process, it can also open us up to hope and what “can be”.

We belong to a wonderfully caring church which has sought ways to maintain companionship and support with meetings on Zoom, so we are able to see each other and talk to each other (before and after worship, in classes and in the various groups that meet during the week). We can be thankful this is how First Christian sought to maintain companionship because many churches only had their worship services on Facebook.  I urge you to take advantage of our getting together on Zoom because support is one of the things we need for recovery.

The second pillar of recovery is treatment and even though we have experienced many similar experiences, we have also had different experiences of loss during the pandemic.  Because of this, the treatment we may need will be as different as we are.  It may require professional help.  But all recovery, whether physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, will benefit from support from those around us as well as reliance on prayer and God’s companionship with us.  It is my hope that instead of silently being “strong,” we will at least be open to others at First Christian about our joys, concerns and struggles.

Blessings!
Mary Alice Do and the Ministry Team