March 7
Psalm 107:19-21New International Version (NIV)
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.20 He
sent out his word and healed them; he
rescued them from the grave.21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his
unfailing love and his wonderful deeds
for mankind.
The Healing Spirit of Writing by Joe Kirk
When I was younger I was not a fan of writing. I did not understand the point of it. I always wondered why did I have to write
when I could speak it so much easier.
From an early part of my life it was clear to me that I could put
together a good speech. I was shy and
quiet as a child, but when I spoke I could pull together a speech and say what
I wanted to say, get my point across with the passion that I meant it to have. Throughout my school years teachers would
often comment to my mom at parent teacher conferences that I needed to speak
more and find my voice. They would often
say, “Joe is very smart but he does not participate much in class because he is
so quiet and shy”. My mom would tell me
about this when she came home and would comment how I needed to talk more. I was and am a very passionate person,
however in my youth, I did not always share that side of myself and would only
write when I had to. That changed one
day in my 11th grade English class with my teacher Mrs. Knopf. You see, I had a huge crush on this girl in
my class named Crystal, although she never knew it This other kid in my class,
Mark, would often mess with Crystal’s desk and books. I would quietly get mad at Mark and would
want to do something to defend Crystal.
On this particular Tuesday morning in English class, after stewing all
night on how I needed to teach Mark a lesson, I got up in the middle of class
while Mrs. Knopf was teaching and walked to the back row of the class room
where Mark sat and went to his desk and grabbed his books and threw them about
the class and then sat back down.
Everyone in the classroom was stunned, shy and quiet Joe had acted out
in class. My teacher, who I just adored,
looked at me with disappointment and simply stated, “you need to stay after
class”. Several students in my class
whispered to me how happy they were with what I had done because Mark was known
as a bully and probably deserved what happened although they did not know why I
did it. As the class let out Crystal
came up to me and said, “I can handle my own problems” and walked away. I was crushed. Not only was I now in trouble
with one of my favorite teachers, my unrequited love Crystal was now mad at me
as well. Could this situation get any
worse? Then Mrs. Knopf came up to me and stated that she would not report me to
the Principal, whew, however, I would have to go home and write two poems to
make up for my behavior in class. She
did not say “punishment” but that is truly what it was. I now had a new enemy in Mark, my major crush
was mad at me, one of my favorite teachers was disappointed in me and I now had
an extra writing assignment. Worse yet, it was to write poetry! She also made it clear that it could not be the ‘roses are
red, violets and blue type, it had to contain more and be more.
That night I spent more than four hours completing the two
poems. The strange part about the
process was I slept that night better than I had in years. I woke the next morning puzzled with how that
could be. The one thing I avoided at all
cost writing had a peaceful, calming effect on me so much so that I slept like
a baby. When I handed in the assignment
to my teacher, what she stated astounded me, “I knew it would help you, you left here yesterday hurting in so many
ways, I knew that making you write could heal what was hurting inside of
you. How did she know that I wondered,
and was she right? Could the one thing that I dreaded so much, and often put
off until that last possible moment, be good for me …be healing for me?
The first poem I wrote was about love because I had crushed
the soul of my crush, and the second poem was about loss because it was in that
moment of anger, disappointment and hurt that I realized how much I was missing
my dad who had left us when 7 years old.
You see, I could not tell my Mom what happened because she would give me
the same disappointed look that I saw in the face of my teacher. And was it even possible for her to
understand the crush of a teenage boy? So that night, I sat in the basement of
our house and wrote two poems: one of
love and one of loss, and because of
this assignment I found the healing power of writing, and particularly for me,
the healing power of writing poetry To
this day, I write poems to address the issues within my heart and soul.
When I moved to Ohio away from my family in Philadelphia, I
turned to writing. When I lost my wife to cancer, I turned to writing. When I
met my new love, my soul mate, my best friend Jodi, I turned to writing. During
the birth, trials and tribulation of having premature twins, I turned to
writing and during these days of raising teenage boys, I turn to writing. Writing continues to heal me and its power
brings me peace and joy.
Writing is a great form of expressing what cannot be said
out loud. It is a way to work through the healing process. Can you write about
a time in your life that was painful? Can you express and release the emotions
of that time in writing?
What helps you to heal?
Prayer: I pray that we
all embrace the power of our healing spirit within us, whether it be through
song, dance, friendship, companionship or writing. May that healing spirit continue to bring you
peace and joy. May we also bless those
who help us to find our healing spirit.
As my sufferings mounted I soon realized
that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation -- either to
react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative
force. I decided to follow the latter
course.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
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