The model for wholeness

 

Jesus both taught and modelled a way to live. Sometimes his parables were confusing but he gave profoundly good advice about how to live healthily, free of deep inner pain. And, when we break it down, his instructions are so very simple:

Don’t worry.   Don’t be afraid.   Don’t be angry.   Forgive often.  

Let go of your burdens.   Be thankful.  Be still.   Rest.   Pray.

Some of these commands can feel like reprimands when we’re already struggling, but actually they are invitations - invitations to wholeness. 

But how do we actually live them out when just to get through the day feels more than enough?

Taking these simple teachings as a model, my new book, Healing Life’s Wounds; Beyond Feeling Broken, explores why our minds and bodies feel as they do and looks at some very practical actions to help ease the uncomfortable sensations and overcome any mental turmoil.

Jan McFarlane, Dean of Lichfield Cathedral, writes:

Healing Life’s Wounds is an excellent book. Pat writes from lived experience and she speaks candidly, yet gently, with a deep longing for us to walk with her on the path to healing and peace.

Pat has a gift for saying profound things simply.

Oh, how our church needs that gift!

Do get a copy: I’d love to help you find healing.     It’s available on my website

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Finding safe space to reflect

 

How to untangle the chaos of our hidden pain?  

Last week, on a Healing Life’s Wounds retreat in the safe space of Penhurst Retreat Centre, a group of weary and wounded people stepped aside from their daily lives to explore that question.  

With courage and honesty, vulnerabilities were prayed into and burdens laid down.  In the sharing of our stories, bonds were formed, insights were given, tears released and hearts healed a little more.

God who heals in many different ways broke through into each individual’s uniqueness. Heavy weights put down. An echo of dreams in the night. Letters courageously written. A prayer shawl touched in faith. A cross looking down on us all. Scriptures and music. Hearts cradled in love. Road signs, dragonflies and shattered pots. Strolling with Jesus. Sharing bread and wine. In all these ways and more, into the silence beneath our storms, God lovingly spoke.

Stepping aside from daily life into the shared and safe intimacy of a prayerful space enabled all this to happen and each person left feeling lighter than when they arrived, having taken a few steps further down the road to healing and knowing that brokenness is never the end of the story.

This retreat will be offered again at Penhurst in August 2026.  And the book, Healing Life’s Wounds, is available from their bookstall, this website, and all the usual places where you buy Christian books.

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