Finally, more out of
desperation than cleverness on my part, I began to work with Wesley using language and imagery.
Wesley the Owl,
by Stacey O’Brien (p.198)
Reading these words this morning
just about took my breath away. Those who know me well, recognize language and
imagery as part of my soul work. Stacey, caregiver and companion to Wesley the
barn owl, was faced with a serious challenge. When Wesley was about 15, his
talons and his beak were becoming dangerous to her and to him. She needed to
file them, but how was she going to get him to cooperate?
Stacey began to sit very still and send thoughts and
pictures to Wesley about how she was going to be able to file his talons and
his beak for him. Wesley was used to Stacey speaking aloud to him so she began
to prepare him for the process. She decided to focus on his beak first, and over
the next few weeks, she would file her own nails telling him what she was doing.
She filed his perch. She would speak to him in a reassuring tone, telling him
what she was going to do for him. All the while, Stacey was holding the image
of peacefully filing his beak.
This morning I was guest speaker at Pilgrim
Congregational United Church of Christ, here in Saint Joseph, Michigan. The
title of the message was "Persistent Faith: Whatever It Takes." I shared
the amazing story of Aron Lee Ralston, who survived
a rock climbing accident in south-eastern Utah in 2003. After having been
trapped for five days and seven hours, he was forced to amputate his own right
arm with a dull Swiss Army knife. After freeing himself by cutting off his arm,
he then climbed down a 65-foot sheer cliff face! The incident is documented in
Ralston's autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place,
and is the subject of the film 127 Hours.
Research about emotions, beliefs, attitudes—about brain
function—and immune response is proving to us that, in fact, being able to
imagine is key! Because humans process their subjective experience, in part, as
pictures, when someone says, “I just cannot see how I will get through all of
this,” according to Dr. Emmett E. Miller, author of Deep Healing: The
Essence of Mind/Body Medicine, we are not just hearing words, we may well
be witnessing destiny. Miller’s work shows clearly how beliefs and images
become actual physical events in the body.
I have been very affected by Aron Ralston's courage and
will.
One year ago today I was in Monaco. As I was touring the Exotic Gardens (about
three acres of amazing succulents, overlooking the Bay of Monaco), I got
separated from the woman I went to Europe to travel with. Amid some extremely stressful
interpersonal dynamics, I actually thought she had left me, testing me to see
if I could find my way. I did not speak the language, I did not have a cell
phone, I did not know the name of the hotel we were staying in, and I had no
Euros.
Then
the moment arrived. I slowly approached his perch,
"It's time to fix your
beak, now, okay?"
Wesley
closed his eyes, hunched down, braced his legs,
and stood perfectly still.
I
was amazed.... I filed and filed....
Wesley did not move a muscle or make a
sound.
He just kept his eyes shut and acted like
he was intently focused on not
feeling anything.
When
I was finished, I wiped his beak and said,
"Okay, Wesley! Good job! All
done! What a smart bird! So brave!"
Wesley the Owl,
by Stacey O’Brien (p. 200)
As I remember that day in Monaco, so far from anything familiar, I marvel that something within me
allowed me to beg money, board the right bus, get off at the right stop, and
find the hotel.
When I remember the emotions I went through that day, I realize
the truth: We have each survived things that allow us to have at least a sense
of what was going on in Ralston's mind.
By grace, we each have within us the necessary
stuff to do whatever it takes.
Amazingly, this must be true for owls, too!
