Becoming Whole--One Piece Of Us At A Time

All the pieces have already been provided, we just need time.
persistence, prayer and the picture on the box.

One of the first things I often encourage distressed clients or parishioners to do is to visualize themselves as the healthiest and most whole person they believe they could possibly become. Then to ask, What would it look like, feel like, be like, if I embraced everything I needed to face my challenges, defeat my fears, be healed of my griefs and achieve my goals?

So one exercise I've suggested to clients is to write a description of themselves as healthy and whole, not as a superman, superwoman or saint, but as the kind of tough and tender person they would want their own son, daughter or best friend to be, and that they could affirm as being entirely possible. I encourage them to write this in the present tense, as though it were already true, as in, "By faith I am someone who..." "I am able to..." etc. And then to ask, "What is getting in the way?" and "What do I need to consistently practice in order to become more like that more and more of the time?"

When we are in crisis, we tend to despair over all the seemingly broken or missing pieces of our lives. But could it be that all of the pieces are actually somehow valuable, and are all in the box, waiting to be discovered, turned over, and fit together into a finished whole? 

So starting with the edge pieces that define the boundaries of our lives, we fit the other pieces together so they correspond to the finished picture on the box.

This is not an easy task, and may take a lifetime to complete. But life is too short not to begin now, to start this very day to live toward the vision of wholeness and wellness our Creator has envisioned for us.