Context: Although I don’t feel anxious about my deteriorating health in the daytime, I have bad dreams about it almost every night. A few days ago I woke feeling particularly upset and disturbed by what I had experienced in my dream, and especially by how I’d felt, both physically and mentally.
My training and experience suggest that these dreams are telling me what’s going on in my unconscious mind, and that it might be helpful to talk them over. As I prayed about this, today’s verses came to mind. They arrived so quickly that it was all I could do to scribble them down. Later I was able to spend time reflecting on them, and editing them.
I’m getting old, and sick, Lord,
Let’s face facts –
I’m never going to do again
Some of the things I love.
I’m never going to do
What I’ve not done.
I’m running out of health,
And out of time.
I’m fine with this
When I’m awake,
But dream about it
Almost every night.
And that’s when I experience
My grief,
My weakness, tiredness,
Helplessness and fear;
Depression; getting lost;
Dementia; tears.
Day after day I wake up
In distress.
Today, I recognised
That maybe I need help:
Lord God, I want to talk
About my dreams.
God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams (Daniel 1:17; NLT).
God can tell you what it means and set you at ease (Genesis 41:16; NLT).
The Rosary Hospital
Word is slowly getting round about The Rosary Hospital, and I’ve fulfilled another two commissions. Meanwhile, yesterday I finished making a simple five-decade rosary for fun, finding it helpful to experiment freely without having any particular recipient in mind.
Dearest Ruth
Know that you are in my prayers always.
I sent you some more rosaries.
God bless you and heal you
Thank you so much for your prayers, and blessings Bea – I pray for you, too. Can’t wait to receive your box of treasures! May God help you to have a manageable day. With 💕love from Ruth XXXXx
Thank you for sharing. You are in my prayers. Please tell me more about how you use a rosary. Thank you!
Hi, Julia. I’ll be delighted to help. Saying the rosary is a form of meditation or contemplation. There are several different kinds of rosary, each inspired by a different vision throughout Christian history. The most common form in the Western world is probably the five-decade rosary. There are a set of short prayers to say, one on each bead. The same rosary is used to meditate on four different Christian mysteries on different days of the week (these are called the joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious mysteries).
The rosary is often said with other people, in which case it is common for one person to lead by saying the first half of each prayer, followed by everyone else saying the second half.
All this sounds very complicated, though it’s not, once you grasp the basic structure. The easiest way to learn more is to practice with someone else who helps and discusses each step, and answers your questions. No pressure, but if you would like to know more, we could talk on Zoom, where I could also show you what it’s about. I’d also be very happy to make you a rosary, and send it with a little booklet of the special prayers, if that would be helpful.
NB The simplest rosary of all is the Orthodox rosary. On each bead we say, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us sinners. Amen” (some people say, “have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen”.) The prayer is said in time with our breathing. Again, I can help with this, if you are interested.
Do let me know your thoughts, if you want to. With love from Ruth XXXXX