I woke up at that point. "Eucalyptically Train-Stopped," I thought. "What ever does THAT mean??"
When I dream about plants, I always research their value both as homeopathics and as flower essences. So I grabbed my phone, punched in "Eucalyptus Homeopathic" and waited for the results.
Very quickly, I made an amazing discovery. This homeopathic is useful for both chronic sinusitis and the symptoms of food poisoning.
Now how in the heck did my dream not only know I was recovering from a cold AND food poisoning that week, but what homeopathic would be helpful???
A few hours later, I called Whole Foods to see if they carried that particular homeopathic. When the answer was no, no worries. I simply went to the website where John and I have bought other homeopathics and ordered it right then and there. For $17.76.
Is that not a great story? Amazing? Doesn't it remind you of the age-old truth that God has always spoken to us in our dreams, guiding us in healing and wisdom?
Doesn't it also tell you I have electricity, money, access to a smart phone, a computer, Whole Foods in my neighborhood, that I can order anything I damn well please on the internet and expect speedy delivery, and that I feel totally entitled to these services?
Don't get me wrong. I'm glad and grateful I'm getting this homeopathic. I believe God wants me to have it,. But I get a bit of a buzz-kill when I consider how easily it comes to me in a world where 2,000 children die every day from diarrhea, in large part due to unsafe water supplies and poor sanitation and hygiene.
Not to mention an appalling lack of Walgreens in third world countries.
How has access to health care helped me grow and develop?
I was raised by doctors. I know about health care. Every time I was sick, I could expect my mother to come home from the office and give me a shot of penicillin in my rump.
And you want to know how I felt about hospitals? I thought of them as my second home. Whether because I was hanging out in the hospital soda shop to be doted on by the shop clerk while my mother made her rounds, or I was wrapping my arms around a nurse's neck following my tonsillectomy, I always felt safe there. It's where people went to get well when mama didn't have the right medicines at home.
I don't feel quite the same way about hospitals today, or traditional medical care. My choice of health care is now primarily Complementary and Alternative. I'd rather give flower essences, homeopathy, reiki, Eden Energy Medicine, nutrition, exercise and meditation a whirl first. When and if that doesn't work, traditional medical care will still be there.
Not that traditional care hasn't done well by me. It saved me when I had an allergic reaction to sulfa drugs and went into anaphylactic shock. It helped me hear better when water was clogging my eardrums. It helped me see better when it set a pair of nerdy-looking pointy-rimmed glasses on my nose. It kept me from much worse when my surgery took care of an appendix on the verge of bursting. It has restored pep and balance with a simple medication used to treat Hashimoto's disease. It restored my sanity when well-trained doctors took the time to listen to me.
All of these benefits have enabled me to live, see, hear, learn, love and work.
What does the future hold for children caught in a cycle of poverty?
Let's not over-think the obvious, here.
It means basic needs for nutrition, clean water, education and health care will not be met.
Unless somebody does something about it. Somebody like you and me.
How can I help provide a healthy future for all people of this world?
This is a problem where the only thing I know to do is throw money at it. John and I have a little checking account we call our "tithe account." Every month we put a percentage of our income in it. At the end of the year, we donate it to International Justice Mission. It's such a pittance, but it still helps to know we're saving someone's child from being sold into sexual slavery, and we're helping her mom start her own home-based business.
I mean, seriously. Me. I'm helping a woman in India start a business with my pittance. It makes me feel like Oprah.
It makes her glow with pride, and smile with deep relief, and thank God for me in her prayers with a gratitude you know I don't deserve. It's just a pittance, for God's sake. A widow's mite.
Need a home for your widow's mite? How about the Musana Community Development Organization?
Why not listen to this song while you reflect on your answers to these questions?
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