Eternal Spirit...

Today's blog entry is not strictly Reiki-related, but it did have a huge impact on my spirituality which ultimately opened my mind to the world of traditional practices and beliefs, and led directly to my personal discovery and embrace of Reiki.

Despite my relatively strict Roman Catholic upbringing, in the interest of complete honesty, I have to say that my faith used to be tested from time to time, particularly when I was trying to wrap my mind around the concept of eternal life. Since I spent much of the early part of my life unaware of the need to keep my mind, body and spirit all healthy and energetically balanced, I was seldom successful in experiencing anything which might confirm my belief (or not) in an existence other than the physical life I was currently experiencing.

I had always desperately wanted to believe, and in retrospect, have had many glimpses of experiences that could only have come from prior incarnations, but I was hung up on a mindset built completely on logic and proof which constantly derailed my journey to enlightenment.

I was always fascinated by metaphysical stories and occurrences, and had witnessed firsthand while other sensitive people experienced things which had no physical explanation. But never having had such an experience myself...the lingering doubt was always there. People very close to me enjoyed some powerful interactions on the spiritual level...my late wife Paula and my mom Anna were two of the most psychically sensitive people I've ever met...but I had never had that breakthrough moment myself, and at times, it was difficult to go just on faith. In future blog entries I'll relate some of the amazing psychic adventures that my mother and my late wife experienced...stories that need to be preserved if for no other reason than family history to help our progeny understand who these people are that keep talking to them in their minds!

But let's get back to my own life-changing experience...the one that removed any and all doubt from my mind about the reality of eternal spiritual life...

Paula and I had been married for just shy of 25 years before her life was cut short by cancer. It was a particularly nasty progression of disease which started in her lungs, but it was ultimately the metastasis to her brain that did the most damage. She was ill for nearly two years, and for most of the second year, she was not herself. Her persona and spirit had been evicted by the cancer cells in her brain and she usually did not even recognize her own family, including me, her husband and primary caregiver. She often feared us and felt that aliens had killed us and put our bodies upstairs where her legs couldn't take her, and that we were alien impersonations of our physical likenesses, bent on doing her harm. When Hospice staff would visit the house, she would always implore them to search upstairs for our bodies, and if I answered a telephone call, she would scream in the background to try to get the attention of the person on the phone to send help.

When her disease robbed her of her mobility and she became quadriplegic, she could not process the situation and was sure I had imprisoned her by tying her to the bed, although she was not tied - she just could no longer move her limbs. It was obviously an extremely difficult time for my daughters and I, but we persevered for her as we knew without a shadow of a doubt she would have done for any of us, and kept her as comfortable, safe and loved as we possibly could until she passed. She was a wonderful and very loving wife and mother and deserved nothing less.

Several months after Paula passed, I was really struggling, not only with my own grief, but with being thrust into single parenthood for two young ladies, our daughters Paula and Liz. Although they were young adults when they lived through the tragedy of their mom's illness (22 and 17 when their mom was diagnosed), it seemed to be an especially difficult time for them to lose her. Their grandmothers had both already passed and they really had no maternal figure left in the family to go to that could understand "girl things". Eventually they both wound up hospitalized for severe physical manifestations of the emotional trauma they had suffered. It was a challenge that I found very difficult to try to fill this role for them and ease their pain while dealing with my own...how different all of our lives could have been if I had known Reiki then! On a side note, I recently learned from ICRT licensed teacher Carolyn Musial that it is possible to send distance Reiki to the past to help with healing and this seems to be the perfect circumstance for such a practice.

Anyway...we were coming up on Paula's first birthday since she passed and I wasn't sure how to deal with it. I had been going on and off to a widow/widower's support group at our local Hospice (where I have since become a regular volunteer offering Reiki sessions to patients, caregivers, and bereaved family members). I mentioned my concern over Paula's birthday, and a woman in the group gave me a suggestion that I thought sounded wonderful. She said that I should write Paula a letter and then go to the cemetery, attach it to a big bunch of helium balloons, and send it to her in Heaven. This just resonated as the right thing to do on so many levels...I love the cemetery...I find it so peaceful and calming...not in any strange way - I know that our remains are not our spirits...but it's still a very centering place for me and I find it very comforting to sit there and meditate. I even take my guitar there sometimes...the crowd is well behaved and doesn't complain about it when my singing wanders off key!

So I did as my friend suggested. I wrote a letter to Paula. I did not share the contents with ANYONE - not even our daughters. It was between Paula and I. Just writing it was a step towards healing, and after sealing it in the envelope and watching it drift skyward and out of sight...it was a good feeling.

I thought that was it - that it had been a good healing exercise, had served its' purpose, and I put it out of my mind.

Well...about ten months later, I was visiting the very special spiritualist community in Lily Dale, NY, which is home to scores of registered mediums and is a well known hot spot for communication with those in spirit. It was a spur of the moment trip. No appointments were made ahead of time...no registrations or anything like that. No one in Lily Dale knew who I was, where I was from, or anything about me.

In Lily Dale during the summer season, many of the registered mediums simply put sign-up sheets on their front porches where you can walk by and reserve a time for a reading. While walking up and down the streets checking the sign-up sheets looking for a medium with a free time slot, I was drawn to the office of a medium named Peggy Rogers. I looked at her sign-up sheet and there was a slot open at 3:30 that afternoon so I simply wrote down on the sheet "Bob" and went off to do some other sightseeing for a few hours until the time for my session arrived.

When I got back to Peggy Rogers' place for my appointment, she invited me into her reading room and we sat across from each other. No words were spoken at all for at least a full five minutes while Peggy simply gazed at me and I wondered what this was going to be liked. Then she started speaking...her first words were, and I quote EXACTLY:

"Paula got your letter, and the answer to both questions is yes."

After this...I was just blown away. Peggy went on with the rest of the 30 minute reading and brought many wonderful and clear connections to me during it...my mom and my dad both visited during the session and their presence was unmistakable. This woman knew NOTHING about me other than that my name was Bob, and I had NEVER shared the contents of the personal note I wrote and released to Paula with ANYONE. It also had no identifying markings or addresses or last names at all, and the cemetery I released it from, in Menands NY, was a good 250 miles east of Lily Dale.

How do I know this was real...

Start with the simple stuff...Paula is not that common a name for a medium to just pull "out of the air", and how would she know I sent Paula a letter?

Even getting past that...to the truly amazing part that has given me an iron clad concrete belief in eternal spiritual life that will never be shaken...

In the letter I released to Paula, after I told her I missed her and hoped she was out of pain and enjoying her time with all of our family in Heaven (we have lots), I closed the letter with TWO QUESTIONS...things that I needed resolved to give me closure and help me heal my grief and move forward with life.

Remember I mentioned how the brain mets had taken away her sanity for most of her last year? Even though I knew I was doing everything humanly possible to care for her, she did not have the mental capacity left in her physical body to realize it. Since she had been unable in life to tell me she knew, I still struggled with it, so I asked her outright in the letter: "Do you know that I did absolutely everything I could to take care of you until you died?"

And I also mentioned that I had been having a hard time filling the role of "mom" to our daughters. Hence the second question I asked Paula in the letter: "Am I doing things right taking care of the girls?"

You have no idea what it meant for her to tell me through Peggy Rogers: "The answer to both questions is YES."

Just for today, be kind to all creatures.

Bob McGrath
Master Practitioner/Teacher
Pathways to Harmony

It's All About Intention...

Sometimes even the most experienced Reiki practitioners forget how beautifully simple Reiki is.

I have been blessed with wonderful Reiki Master teachers on my journey, having had the good fortune to personally train with Linda Thompson of Unity Healing Center, Carolyn Musial of Mystic Wolf Healing Arts, and William Lee Rand, founder of the ICRT. By proxy, and because of my voracious appetite to read anything and everything ever written about Reiki, I count many more Masters among my Sensei as well...Frank Arjava Petter, Walter Lubeck, Tadao Yamaguchi and several others.

As every one of these marvelous teachers has taught me at one time or another...Reiki can do no harm. It only works for the greatest good. You CAN'T DO IT WRONG because it's driven by your intention, not your process, and if your intention is not for the greatest good, it will simply be ignored.

Where am I going with this?

To tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure yet, but come along with my thoughts for a bit and hopefully you will enjoy the ride...at least that is my intention!

A couple of weeks ago, I went with my daughters to our local mall. By chance, a major US bookseller, Barnes and Noble, was having a huge inventory reduction sale...giant tables stacked high with drastically reduced books of every imaginable kind. As I have already established, I have a reading addiction, so I had no problem at all quickly finding a dozen or so deeply discounted books that interested me. Almost all were on some topic related to energy medicine, spirituality, sacred places, and yes...Reiki!

Among the treasures I found on this shopping spree was a book originally published in 1999 under the title: "Reiki for Beginners" and now titled: "Beginner's Guide to Reiki". I'm not sure of the reason for the revised title on a subsequent printing, but I'm sure it was a spiritually guide change!

This book was written by a western Reiki Master named David F. Vennells, who I was completely unfamiliar with, but this fact made me particularly interested in reading it because I find alternate perspectives or viewpoints very intriguing, and they often provoke my thoughts in new directions for growth.

I usually do my Reiki reading with the book in one hand, and a highlighter in the other as I make numerous references that I transfer to my class outline binder for use in teaching. Mr. Vennells work ended up with quite a bit of highlighting since many of his insights gave me great food for thought. If you get a chance to pick up this book, I highly recommend it.

There was a part that I just read today which I'm sure was one of those "Reiki coincidences" that we experience from time to time. It was a particularly interesting section on the five Reiki Principles and how to re-word them as "Reiki Intentions" and meditate on them to help resolve difficult situations in your life...Reiki for self-healing! Something none of us do often enough!

An example of converting a Reiki principle to a Reiki intention would be like this...rather than "Just for today, be grateful", put the thought into an affirmative syntax like: "Today I am grateful", and meditate on that affirmation and all of the blessings for which you are grateful...the process will fill your soul with gratitude. You will be living in that Reiki principle and your life will reap the benefits.

Now what makes this another example of Reiki stepping in at just the right moment for me...

Last night, I had a fairly unpleasant, harsh verbal exchange with both of my daughters, who live with me. They're 21 and 26 years old, and as a 56 year old widower, it can be very challenging sharing the house with them. Since I have a huge amount of compassion and sympathy for them, having lost their mom to cancer just over two years ago, I generally let the little annoyances go, and like most parents, quietly clean up their messes and keep up on the housework while struggling to pay the bills to keep a roof over their head...OK...not quite that bad but you get the drift!

Well, for whatever reason, when I got home from work last night, and walked in to some messes not of my own making, I had had enough, and to quote my FAVORITE philosopher..."I has had enough, and enough is TOO MUCH!" (Yes...that's right...my favorite philosopher is Popeye the Sailor Man.)

I got uncharacteristically stressed and spent most of the evening calmly expressing my dissatisfaction with their behavior, their lack of gratitude, and their lack of consideration for my home, my generosity, and my hard work. (They might use a different adjective than "calmly" in their version of events.)

Well...long story short...while still feeling the stressful aftermath of last night's events, I stumbled upon the part of Mr. Vennells' book where he suggested that the Reiki principles can be used as "trigger lines" when suddenly faced with a difficult or challenging situation. In this particular instance, he would suggest that I embrace the Reiki principle of "Just for today, do not be angry" as "Today I am peaceful".

As I spent the better part of my lunch hour mulling this over, in fact, meditating on it...it worked! All of the angst and anger vanished and I was enveloped by a feeling of peace and harmony. The simplicity of the core principles on which Reiki is based came to the rescue and healed me once again...this time without hand positions or invoking symbols...just by embracing the teachings of my God as relayed through Dr. Usui and the Meiji Emperor as core values in my life. This experience and realization will certainly help me deal more appropriately with future adventures in parenthood.

Just another example of why we should all not just practice Reiki, but do our best to live it. It can only do good, and don't we all want our lives to be good?

Today I am peaceful!

Bob McGrath
Master Practitioner/Teacher
Pathways to Harmony

Mile High Reiki...

Another great distance Reiki story today...

I have a very dear friend named Kim who lives near Denver CO. She and I have known each other in our "day jobs" for more years than I can remember, and we share a unique bond since our employing organization, which has more than half-a-million employees, only has TWO employees with our job title...myself in upstate NY and Kim in Colorado. Needless to say, we have a great deal of empathy for each other's day-to-day job challenges.

On a much more personal note, Kim and I share the understanding of what it's like to experience the death of a spouse, each of us having lived through the tragedy, and each of us being strong enough to fight our way back...and what a fight it is!

Kim was so compassionate and caring when I was struggling with my loss...she's one of those friends who you know will always be there, whatever you need, and I feel truly blessed to be able to count her among the special people that are a part of my life.

A few days ago, Kim sent me a work-related question by email. She wanted my opinion on a policy issue. We bounce stuff off each other frequently and this was not unusual, but I could tell from the tone of her email that something wasn't right. I began my response with: "Hi Kim...hope all is well." Then I addressed the business question.

In a matter of minutes she replied that she was struggling...her younger brother Danny had been visiting from Iowa and doing some contracting work on her house...roofing, siding, that sort of thing. While doing this, he experienced a serious leakage in his intestines, a very dangerous condition that can turn your entire system toxic quickly, resulting in death.

Besides being heartsick about her brother's condition, Kim was struggling with shuttling family to and from the airport, keeping the house for six adults, constant trips and shuttles to the hospital and the regular stuff that won't go away like watering the garden, mowing, pulling weeds, cooking, laundry, etc. And did I mention going to work? She was obviously stressed and fast approaching the end of her rope, but closed her message by saying: "...God is good and will provide. If I can get my brother back together and healthy again, nothing else matters...", adding a characteristic smiley icon at the end of her message. Kim is a poster-child for the impact of positive energy and attitude.

I didn't want to overwhelm Kim. We had never discussed Reiki before, and she had a lot on her plate, so I simply responded with the following: "What's your brother's full name and age? I am a Master Level Reiki Practitioner and Teacher and will send him healing universal energy. Sounds freaky if you're unfamiliar with it but Reiki works, and distance is not an issue. I can include his healing as an intention in my morning and evening prayers."

Now I had her attention...she replied that he was going into surgery that day at 6:30 my time and that she would appreciate anything I could do...adding how special he is to her. I could feel her anxiety jumping off my computer screen!

With only a couple of hours until Danny's surgery, I began to send distance Reiki in the traditional manner by visualizing his body on my right thigh, using the distance symbol, and treating his intestines while asking my God to allow Reiki to flow to ensure Danny's (and Kim's) safety and healing. I did this for about a half hour. At the time of the surgery, 6:30 PM my time, I was driving and repeated the process while in the car. Feeling the energy heat up my right palm and pulsate against my leg, I knew it was working. I didn't even have to ask Kim about the outcome. I already knew. Just for good measure, I added Danny's name, age and birth date to a paper of intentions I keep under my crystal grid which I use to focus my prayers every evening. Without going into detail...since I use it every morning and evening, the grid is so charged with Reiki energy now that it continuously sends Reiki to the intentions placed under it.

The next morning, I asked Kim anyway how Danny made out. Having more time, she now told me the whole story. Up until an hour before the surgery, when they were prepping Danny, the doctor maintained that his only option was major surgery, opening him up completely, and even that was risky without any guarantee of success since they were unsure of the cause of the leakage. Just before the surgery (and unknowingly after already receiving 30 minutes of distant cross-country Reiki), the surgeon decided to try a laparoscopic procedure, which would require just a 2-3" incision. And, of course, the procedure worked! They were able to remove the damaged part of his intestine and he is expected to be released in just a few days.

Now I certainly don't want anyone to believe that Reiki is the only thing which saved Danny...Reiki is a complementary therapy that provides a powerful and wonderful assist to the skilled practitioners of traditional medicine. But the next part of this story proves to me without a doubt that Reiki played a key role here...

After Kim told me Danny was doing fine now, she mentioned the following detail to me...remember...she and I had never discussed Reiki nor my interest in, and practice of, holistic healing techniques. She said: "Yesterday, I was trying to finish up some reports on the computer so I could leave to be with my brother, and God said your name..."Bob McGrath"...nothing else. And I knew I was supposed to contact you for help..."

The wonders of God's creation give me chills even as I write this!

In closing, this whole episode will help continue the wonderful resurgence of Reiki across the western world. Although Kim and I are 2,000 miles apart, we're now talking about how to get her trained. She may try to get up a group of students so my partner and I can go run a class in Denver, or she may come here for a visit and training...or she may find a local teacher from the ICRT on reiki.org…no matter how, I know Kim will soon joins the ranks of "Reiki people" and when she decides to do something...it gets done. And having her as a Reiki practitioner will definitely better our world!

Just for today...be grateful!

Bob McGrath
Master Practitioner/Teacher
Pathways to Harmony

Reiki I Class Meditation

Here's a meditation I wrote to use in our Reiki I classes. Feel free to use it however you wish. I'm going to record it with some original music using my hand-made Native American elk hide hand drum and walnut flute. Once I do, I'll post the mp3 file for download.

Reiki I Class Meditation

Before we really get into learning about Reiki, it would be a good idea if we put our minds, bodies and spirits into the optimal condition to receive the wonderful healing energy that will be available to us as we receive our Level I Reiju, the Japanese term for attunement - the sacred ceremony which opens a student's energy system to be a clear channel for Reiki healing.

After all, Reiki healing is all about clearing any blockages in our systems that may be impeding the flow of universal life force energy through us. We will talk more later about the human energy system, and the body's primary energy centers or Chakras, through which we absorb and dispel energy, but for now you just need to know that it is important to both your physical and emotional health for your Chakras to be clear and open.

So we're going to start with a guided meditation to help us on this wonderful journey. I suggest that you place your notebook and pen under your chair for easy access to record your experience at the conclusion of this meditation.

We'll begin with three long slow deep cleansing breaths.

Get into a comfortable position...eyes closed...hands open and palms up in your lap...take off your shoes if you want...begin to relax...

Exhale completely and fully, thoroughly emptying your lungs. When you can't exhale any more, push just a little bit more air out. Now close your mouth and hold that empty space in your chest for a few seconds.

Keeping your mouth closed, inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, completely filling your lungs. Feel your chest expand as you are empowered by the clean, life sustaining air with its wonderful energy. When you feel you can't take in any more air, pull in just a little more. Hold this wonderful full feeling for several seconds.

Now open your mouth and exhale completely and fully, again thoroughly emptying your lungs. When you can't exhale any more, again push just a little bit more air out. Close your mouth and again hold the clear empty space in your chest for a few seconds.

Keep your lips sealed and once again, inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, completely filling and expanding your lungs. Feel your chest expand as you are empowered by the rich nourishing air. When you feel you can't take in any more air, pull in just a little more. Again we hold this wonderful peaceful feeling for several seconds.

Open your mouth and again exhale completely and fully, emptying your lungs. When you can't exhale any more, again push just a little bit more air out. Close your mouth and again hold the clear empty space in your chest for a few seconds.

Seal your lips once again, and inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, completely filling, stretching, and expanding your lungs. Feel your chest stretch powerfully as you are filled with the grace of the healing energy carried in the clear clean air. When you feel you can't take in any more air, pull in just one more bit. Once again, hold this wonderful peaceful feeling for several seconds.

Open your mouth and again exhale completely and fully, emptying your lungs. When you can’t exhale any more, again push just a little bit more air out. Close your mouth and again hold the clear empty space in your chest for a few seconds.

Now, keeping your eyes closed, resume normal slow breathing. Feel the soft and steady beat of the music and synchronize your breathing to the rhythm. Take a few moments to begin to lose yourself in the quiet steady beat...imagine you are floating in the womb of the universe and the soft steady beat is the heartbeat of life itself...allow yourself to slow down...drifting into a state of complete comfort and relaxation...no thoughts intrude upon your space...nothing distracts you from the wonderful loving heartbeat of the universe...if distractions enter your space, gently brush them away, returning your focus to the loving heartbeat...

(PAUSE)

Notice a warm gentle breeze starting to brush lightly over your face. The breeze feels wonderfully clean and has just the slightest taste of salt water.

You become aware that you are standing barefoot, and you can feel the warm caress of white beach sand under your feet. All around you is pale green sea grass swaying gently in the warm ocean breeze. You are on a beautiful deserted sand dune.
In front of you is the most beautiful sandy beach you have ever seen, and beyond the beach you notice the gentle swells of the warm Caribbean Sea as the waves break softly, almost silently on the beach.

As each swells breaks, the water expands up the sand, and just when it reaches the furthest point, stretches just the smallest bit closer to your toes before falling gracefully and happily back into the sea.

You watch this wonderful dance of water on sand repeat itself over and over as the rhythm of the waves becomes one with the swaying grass and the beat of the music.

This is your universe.

Your body begins to become one with this wonderful place...swaying gently along with the grass on the dunes. You are filled with warmth as you feel the healing yellow light of the sun drenching your body. Your entire existence is blanketed with this warm golden sunlight as you just relax and enjoy its embrace.

Everything is bathed in warm, golden yellow sunlight. Everything is peaceful. You have found paradise and it is yours. You can return here anytime you wish just by closing your eyes and remembering this place.

(PAUSE)

Now you become aware that you are weightless. Your feet feel the warm sand beneath them because you choose to be there, but you know you could just as easily choose to fly away. You notice that you have raised your arms out to either side as you stand and enjoy the warm ocean breeze dancing across your skin, and you decide to let the breeze lift you off the sand as you gently begin to glide like a magnificent golden yellow bird in the clear blue cloudless sky. You are weightless. You can change direction simply by thinking of where you want to go. You are completely free to explore the infinite beauty all around you.

The sea below you has the beautiful clear blue-green color only found in the Caribbean. You can see dazzling brightly colored schools of tropical fish swimming in the water below you as you glide above the water…the playful little fish have amazingly bright colors…blues, reds, yellows, greens…the beautiful patterns on their bodies enhance the grace of their movements as they dart about just below the surface.

This is your space...your universe...gifted to you by your source. You sail peacefully above the swells content to just enjoy the beauty of this sacred place and time.

As you glide, you start to climb higher into the beautiful blue sky. As the playful tropical fish below you get smaller and smaller, you start to notice the softest, whitest, fluffy clouds that begin to dot the sky around you. You find it wonderfully exhilarating to just sail among the clouds thinking of nothing except the beauty of the universe. You are filled with appreciation for all of creation and feel completely loved and embraced by the energy of the universe.

You can feel this healing energy pulse through your weightless body as it draws you higher and higher into the clear blue sky. Soon you notice another presence lovingly watching you enjoy your new-found freedom. As you fly closer to this being, you find that they have human form, but also appear to be made of the brightest white light you've ever seen. Their features are soft and inviting as they smile at you in the way a parent welcomes their long-awaited newborn infant emerging from the womb.

Soon you are embracing this being, and with that embrace, you instinctively know that you have found your primary guide for your healing journey. Take some time in the embrace to enjoy the energy of love flowing through every inch of your mind, body and spirit.

(PAUSE)

Ask your guide if they would like to tell you their name at this time. If they prefer to wait, accept this with the knowledge that you have found a lifelong relationship. There is no hurry. Time on this journey is both eternal and irrelevant.

Take a few moments to gaze upon your guide and take note of their features. Is your guide male, female or androgynous? Does your guide appear old or young? What does their hair look like? How are they dressed? Do you recognize them as an ancestor, angel or ascended master?

Ask your guide if they have any advice for you at this moment in your journey? Quietly absorb any messages they pass to you.

(PAUSE)

As your visit with your guide draws to a close, allow yourself to depart with the clear knowledge that you can re-visit this place anytime you choose and that you will always find your guide waiting to help you with love, grace and light.

Thank your guide for being there, and ask God's blessing on them.

As your guide fades back into the heavens, you are once again aware that you are gliding weightlessly far above the Earth. As you slowly begin your descent, the fluffy soft white clouds give way to a clear cloudless blue sky and you can once again start to see the beautiful brightly colored tropical fish playing in the clear blue-green waters below. The air is warm and filled with golden yellow sunlight and you are bathed in its warmth and love.

As you return to the warm sands of the dune, you feel your feet touch the ground and you know that you are safely home. Slowly begin to return your consciousness to your physical body.

When you're ready, slowly open your eyes and recall your surroundings. Notice how peaceful, calm, safe, secure and completely healed you now feel.

Take a deep cleansing breath and come fully awake.

Now take a few minutes to write down anything you care to remember about your journey.

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Reiki and Religion

I know going in that today's article is going to be controversial. That can't be helped. The subject matter is sensitive, and is something many people are passionate about. In fact, some folks are so passionate about it that I often wonder why they choose to live in a country where the choice to practice any religion you choose (or no religion at all) is an inalienable right guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. But none of that should concern Reiki. Unfortunately, for several reasons, Reiki healers are often put in the position of having to defend their practice against religious opposition.

My mother was raised in a strict Roman Catholic working class household in the 1930's. My father, although born to Roman Catholic parents, for unknown reasons was not baptized into Catholicism in childhood. He chose the faith as an adult and received the sacrament of Baptism after all three of his children were born. I was educated by the Sisters of Mercy in elementary school (St. Teresa of Avila in Albany NY, now closed due to parish consolidations), and went on to a Catholic high school (Vincentian Institute, Albany NY, now a senior center) and college (College of St. Rose, Albany NY - still open! Can I have an AMEN?!?!?)

And yes...I survived...and the stories about nuns using rulers on the knuckles of unruly students do have a grain of truth :-)

Needless to day my Catholicism and catechismic knowledge and beliefs are deeply rooted.

And yes...I am a practicing and teaching Reiki Master.

It is generally Catholics and some of the "born again" Christian faiths that have problems with Reiki. Policy for the Catholic Church is set in Vatican City, an independent nation within the limits of the city of Rome, Italy. The Vatican has refused to embrace it, citing several specific Reiki paradigms as contrary to Biblical teachings.

I have already established here that I have a very strong Christian faith...God is my supreme being and creator of EVERYTHING (yes...including Reiki). My ascended master is the Lord Jesus Christ. My spirit guides include all of the Archangels, Mary the Mother of God, and several Saints canonized by the catholic Church (St. Teresa of Avila...a healer and doctor; St. Francis of Assisi...he nursed lepers and was the first to bear the stigmata; and St. Patrick of Ireland...among many wonderful works, he used the shamrock as a symbol of the Trinity, and was known to speak with his ancestors, long in spirit, for guidance). St. Patrick and St. Francis were also associated with many fields typically dominated by women, and were instrumental in helping to establish multiple convents and religious orders for women. As a man working in Reiki today, I have a definite empathy for the stigma of working in a field historically heavily female oriented. I have often been the only male in classes or meetings, and always am in a very small gender minority in Reiki groups.

In addition to God the Father and Jesus his son, the third component of the Trinity which forms the core of Christian theology is the Holy Spirit...the giver of life. The Holy Spirit oftens receives prayers for healing, asking that he fill a person with God's love and light (can you say "universal energy"?).

So without getting overly technical (I provide several links to external writings at the end of this article), here are my top ten reasons why I can easily reconcile my Catholic faith with my belief in the practice and power of Reiki...

1. To quote Jesus himself, from the King James' Bible, John 14:12: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."

By his own words, Jesus is telling us that we have the ability to continue his healing work.

2. God created everything...this includes universal life force energy. By extension, it goes without saying that God created Reiki and all other forms of energy healing, since they are part of the universe He created. True Reiki practitioners know that their ego has nothing to do with success, and that they are only a channel for healing provided by the Divine. Reiki is effective regardless of the skill set or ego of the practitioner. It is simply about intention to heal for the highest good.

3. The Vatican discredits Reiki for calling on imaginary "spirit guides" and "ascended masters". I honestly fail to see how this differs from asking saints, angels, Mother Mary, etc... to intercede on our behalf in prayer...an everyday practice of Catholics and most Christians.

4. I cannot see any distinction, other than nomenclature, between the Holy Spirit and the Universal Life Force Energy channeled in Reiki.

5. In Biblical references far too numerous to mention, Jesus taught us to be kind. This is not only the fifth principle of Reiki..."Hito Ni Shinsetsu Ni" (Be Kind to all Humans), but if you've ever witnessed or experienced a Reiki session, the receiver always feels blessed with kindness and love by both the practitioner and the energy at the end of the session.

6. The Vatican discredits Reiki for the use of symbology. Without going to the extreme of suggesting that you watch "The DaVinci Code" to see all the symbols used in the Catholic faith, I would assert simply that Catholics make use of many symbols, the most common being the Sign of the Cross. This argument could be extended to obvios comparisons between Catholic sacraments such as Baptism and Confirmation, which cleanse our souls of sin and strengthen our faith, and Reiki attunements which open our energy fields and heal us to allow us to better channel healing for others.

7. Reiki and all energy modalities place significance on the color and strength of the aura as an indicator of health, wellness and spiritual contentment. Why do you think Catholic saints are always represented in artwork with halos?

8. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a paper titled: "Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as an Alternative Therapy".
In this document, they claim that "Reiki lacks scientific credibility" and "has not been accepted by the scientific and medical communities as an effective therapy". This generalization would appear to be applicable to all miraculous works, yet the conference pointedly limits it to Reiki. I have previously, in other blog articles, quoted St. Augustine's wonderful insight on miracles in which he says that: "Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature". Enough said.

We are also rapidly learning more and more of the science associated with the study of the human energy field and a significant body of documentation is being compiled by researchers across the planet.

9. Another Biblical reference: Luke, 9: 49-50, "Master" said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us." "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."

10. Reiki is not a religion...it has none of the core components of a religion...no dogma...no doctrine. It is a healing practice much older than many of today's traditional medical practices but no different in its core mission...to heal the sick. How can that be bad?

In summary, while not everyone will be satisfied with this article or be able to reconcile Reiki with thier own belief system, it is not a problem for me. My God is all-loving, and anything I've stumbled upon to bring comfort to the sick and kindness to humanity cannot possibly be against his wishes.

A couple of interesting articles for further reading on this topic:

Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as Alternative Therapy, US Conference of Catholic Bishops

Reiki for Christians

A Response to the Bishops' Statement on Reiki, William Lee Rand, President, International Center for Reiki Training

Just for today...don't be angry!

Bob McGrath
Master Practitioner/Teacher
Pathways to Harmony

Distance Reiki Comes Through...

Several years ago, a very close friend of mine named Harold retired from the company we had both been with for at least 25 years...even more for him. Due to the nature of our work, even though Harold lived in Connecticut and I lived in rural upstate New York, we had spent a lot of time traveling together for project work. There was one point in the early 1990's when we realized that he and I had spent three consecutive Valentine's Day holidays together on the road. Fortunately we were both blessed with very special wives who understood the nature of our work. Even though I first met Harold through my "day job", over the years we truly became best friends. He and his wife Ruth would come to NY and visit with my family, and likewise my wife Paula and I would take our daughters Paula and Liz to Connecticut to hang out with Ruth and Harold.

When Harold retired, he and Ruth immediately moved to Florida, having had more than enough of winters in the northeastern US. Of course we stayed in touch, in that unique way that only very close guy friends can understand...infrequent and very brief telephone conversations to check in...but always with the full knowledge and understanding that the friendship is forever and whenever one of us needed the other, we would be there in a heartbeat.

Well, I was the first one to need help when I lost my wife Paula to cancer in March of 2009. Obviously both Harold and Ruth were there for me and the girls. Ruth understood all too well, having herself survived breast cancer five years previously. They both flew up for Paula's funeral, and Harold helped carry her casket.

In a sad bit of irony, Ruth had a five year follow-up scan for her cancer as soon as they got back to Florida, and the results were not good. It was back.

For Christmas of 2009, our first without Paula, I did not want to stay home so I took the girls and we went to Florida to spend the holidays with Harold and Ruth. Despite being terminally ill, Ruth was wonderful to us. She went outlet shopping with my daughters and stayed up late at night engaging in girl talk...I could hear most of it from my bedroom but stayed put not wanting to disturb the female bonding that Paula and Liz needed so much after losing their mom. Ruth was truly filling the role of a loving grandma for them (all four of their natural grandparents are in spirit, the last being my mom who passed in January 2008).

After we returned to New York, Ruth's disease continued to progress, this time at a more accelerated pace. How I wish I was a Reiki Master then so I could have channeled healing energy for her! After several more months of courageously battling, Ruth entered spirit on July 11, 2010. What a sad coincidence that best friends Harold and I would both lose our wives within such a short time, and both to cancer.

We both worked our way through the journey of grief, helping pull each other through it and uniquely being able to sincerely say to each other: "I know exactly how you feel!" Harold came up to NY and stayed with the girls and I on Thanksgiving weekend, but he was adamant that he wanted to tough out his first Christmas without Ruth alone at home in Florida as a part of his healing journey.

Things have started to adjust back to the new "normal" now, and we've had time to catch our breath without a major loss in a while, so it was quite unsettling when I was checking my text messages during a break in a Reiki II class last Sunday only to see a message from Ruth's daughter Vicki (Harold's step-daughter) that he had been hospitalized with a heart attack and she had no more information. She lives in Connecticut. She referred me to her sister Rachel, Ruth's other daughter, who lives about an hour or so away from Harold in Florida, but repeated attempts to reach Rachel by phone were unsuccessful. You can imagine how anxious this made me, since I truly did not know if Harold was alive or in spirit.

One of the topics covered in detail in a Reiki II class is using the distance symbol to channel Reiki remotely...be it across the room or across the world. Well...I can tell you...I was calling on that distance healing energy in full force to come to the aid of my dear friend Harold and see him through this crisis, and at the same time praying to God that Harold was still with us so the wonderful divine gift of universal life force energy would be able to help.

When I was unable to reach Rachel, I had also tried Harold's cell phone, thinking maybe a friend would answer it for him. There was no answer at that number either. I put my phone on vibrate since I was still in my Reiki II class, and after several hours, it began to buzz to let me know I had a call. The caller-ID screen showed that the incoming call was from Harold's cell phone.

Imagine my relief when I answered and was greeted by Harold's own voice, sounding strong and very much himself...saying something warm and fuzzy like: "Yeah...what did you want?" to which I replied: "Just checking to see if you're still alive." He was in the hospital where he had been airlifted from an urgent care center. They had done a balloon angioplasty on him as a stop gap to get him through the weekend until a 7 AM Monday quadruple bypass surgery.

Around 1 PM on Monday, I got a call from Rachel saying that he came through the surgery fine and was recovering in ICU. This was by no means a "slam dunk". Harold is getting on in years and suffers from COPD in addition to being a chronic heavy smoker. Open heart surgery for him was very high risk. But really...there was never a doubt about the outcome...distance Reiki flowing strongly to him throughout his crisis and recovery assured a happy ending.

Just for today...don't worry!

Bob McGrath
Master Practitioner/Teacher
Pathways to Harmony

Reiki Vision...

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to take another Reiki I/II combination class. While it might seem odd since I already have my Master/Teacher certification, there were several reasons I wanted to do this, and in retrospect, the actual experience provided many more reasons why I'm glad I did.

Reiki will always bring the student to the teacher they are meant to work with at any given point in time. When I first studied Reiki at levels I and II, I knew nothing more about this wonderful healing modality than what I had learned from a five minute introduction at a Hospice volunteer training class and what I had picked up from the book "Essential Reiki" by Diane Stein...basically just enough information for me to know with absolute certainty that I wanted to learn all I could about Reiki and how I could use it to heal myself and help those around me.

I took my first class locally and got my Reiki I and II certifications, and began practicing on myself, my family, friends and Hospice patients. The manual for my Reiki I/II class was written by William Lee Rand of the International Center for Reiki Training (ICRT), and in doing additional reading and research, it quickly became apparent to me that William had taken Reiki to a whole new level of professionalism in the Western hemisphere with extensive research and well-defined curricula for each level of training and certification.

I soon became drawn to an offering for an Advanced/Master class being held within commuting distance of my home and signed up immediately since the instructor was William Lee Rand himself. I completed this class and received my Master/Teacher certification. The intensity of this experience and the knowledge shared by William quickly made me realize that my earlier Reiki training was potentially somewhat lacking since I had not studied with a teacher certified or licensed by the ICRT, and I went searching for an ICRT teacher offering Reiki I/II in the near future so I could re-take it and see what I missed. I was sure that there would be different nuances to the course material as presented by different instructors, and also felt that since I now had a lot more knowledge and experience with Reiki under my belt, I would have more insight to the material and would probably get more out of it. I was also very curious to experience different teaching methods as I build my own teaching practice.

The closest ICRT licensed offering I could find was in Buffalo NY, about a five hour drive from home. The instructor was ICRT senior licensed teacher Carolyn Musial of Mystic Wolf Healing Arts. I registered for Carolyn's class.

Now this article is not meant to be a review of Carolyn's class, but I will say that if you ever have the opportunity to study with this remarkable woman, jump on it. She has exceptional subject matter expertise, and is compassionate, caring, interesting and dedicated to sharing and teaching Reiki. Once again, Reiki brought me to the right teacher for this point in my journey.

As an interesting side note...there were two other students in this I/II class with Carolyn that had also been in my ART/Master class with William so I was not the only one impressed with ICRT credentialed training.

One of the things a student learns during a Reiki II class in addition to the traditional laying on of hands for channeling Reiki is how to use some alternate Japanese Reiki techniques for healing. For most of the practice exercises with these Japanese techniques, the students each worked with a randomly selected classmate as a partner. Since there were nine students in the class, for some exercises, Carolyn herself had to participate to partner with a student for an even number of teams. For one such exercise, I had the good fortune to be partnered with Carolyn myself.

The technique that Carolyn and I used was a non-contact method of sending Reiki with the eyes called Gyoshi Ho. For the first part of the exercise, I was on the receiving end, and then we reversed roles and I sent Reiki to Carolyn. I was familiar with Gyoshi Ho since this was not my first Reiki II class, and I often use it with bedridden or comatose Hospice patients, but until I learned from Carolyn's instruction how to best use this tool, I never had an experience anything like what I enjoyed in this class.

While on the receiving end, I simply closed my eyes to enjoy the incoming Reiki, not really expecting anything in particular but open to whatever the experience provided. I immediately felt heat in my throat chakra which was strong and steady, staying there for several minutes before drifting down to my heart chakra for a time, then returning to my throat. There was a brief but definite feeling of the energy going up to my third eye chakra as well, but it kept returning to my throat as if it was anchored there. The whole experience made my ethereal body from my forehead to my chest feel very warm, balanced and centered. There was an unusual but unquestionable feeling during this session that Carolyn was less than an inch away from me when if fact she was seated several feet away. This is hard to describe since it was more of a feeling of the two of us as featureless masses of energy in extremely close proximity than a feeling of our physical bodies standing that close, but it was very real and undeniable.

After this portion of our session was done, Carolyn told me that she was drawn to my throat and heart chakras and spent most of the session sending Reiki there, although she had also sent some for a brief moment to my third eye - this was an EXACT match for what I had experienced...not just close or vaguely similar...precisely exact! This woman's well developed ability to channel Reiki is crazy good!

I told her about the feeling that we were only an inch or so apart, and she replied that it was true of our energies, although it was my field as the receiver that was drawn to hers rather than the other way around. What an amazing experience.

Now it was my turn...the amateur...to use Gyoshi Ho to channel Reiki to my instructor...Carolyn Sensei (the Japanese term of honor for a skilled teacher). Carolyn closed her eyes and I began using the Gyoshi Ho technique. I was immediately drawn to Carolyn's third eye chakra and just slightly lower, to the area of her eyes. As I allowed the Reiki to flow from my eyes, her face immediately lost all of its features and appeared as just a grey cloud. I could not see her eyes or anything else in that area...just the outline of her head with her eyes and forehead obscured by a grey cloud, and a thin white aura with hints of green and blue layers towards the upper left. Very strange. After a while, my eyes were briefly drawn down to the tops of her knees, which I interpret in a seated client as a pathway to the root chakra. But this did not last long and Reiki called me back to the third eye area just above her physical eyes.

Now came the time for Carolyn to tell me what she experienced, and I nearly fell out of my chair when she said something very close to: "I felt like my eyes were bulging out of my head. The entire feeling was centered on my eyes, although I briefly felt something in my hands (which were resting on the tops of her knees)."

She went on to explain that in Gyoshi Ho, it is possible for the practitioner to experience the graying out of the features just as I did and sometimes this escalates to portions of the client's body becoming transparent or disappearing altogether. She added that this could progress to seeing other faces in the clients energy field which could be spirit guides or past lives for either the sender or the recipient. If our session had continued beyond the few minutes allowed for this as a classroom exercise, I might well have had that experience as well.

Imagine the boost this experience gave to my already strong belief in Reiki and the confidence it gave me to move forward in my teaching practice. The right teacher at the right time in my journey to be sure...amazing!

Thank you Carolyn Sensei! Thank you Reiki! Thank you God!

Just for today...be grateful!

Bob McGrath
Master Practitioner/Teacher
Pathways to Harmony

Reiki First Aid

There is a common perception of energy medicine that it is primarily useful for gradual long term healing, especially for conditions or situations with longstanding and deeply rooted causes in the emotional and/or mental layers of our psyche and aura. While it may be very effective for treating such maladies, energy healing in general and Reiki in particular are in no way, shape or form limited to such "non-physical" uses.

I personally know practitioners who have successfully used Reiki for first aid on themselves and others with great success, and I have also done so myself. Today I will share two stories as examples of this type of "Reiki First Aid".

In April of this year, I was attending a three day class in a hotel with 20 other Reiki practitioners. On the second day of the class, one of the students, a woman perhaps 50 years old who I will call "Nadine" (not her real name), hobbled very gingerly into the room at the start of the day, using extreme caution not to use her right leg or to put any weight on her right foot. In asking her what was wrong, I learned that she had badly twisted her knee the previous evening and done some damage to a tendon. Any movement to the leg was excruciating for her and she did not know if she could continue in the class. She had been unable to sleep all night due to the pain.

Since this was a Reiki class, I had my massage table there and proceeded to set it up and invited Nadine to lie down for some treatment. It took a good fifteen minutes to get her onto the table, since I had to support her right leg at all times without allowing it to move at all other than what she controlled herself from her hip joint. When I started to remove her shoes, she stopped me immediately saying that it took her an hour to get them on!

I enlisted the help of five or six other practitioners, and we surrounded Nadine, all laying hands on her on the table for an intensive healing session prior to the start of class.

Once the class started, we were to pair off and practice some recently learned adjunct Japanese healing techniques on each other as our first exercise. I stayed at the table and partnered with Nadine, telling her that I would work on her first, giving her some additional time to chill out and relax on the table before testing her leg. The other practitioners paired off in their own groups to practice.

During the entire time the instructor was explaining and demonstrating our lesson material, I continued to channel Reiki through her knee first with my hands directly on her kneecap, and then moving to alternate positions with my hands spread one above and one below the knee to flow Reiki through the joint, and finally spreading my hands wider to flow Reiki from her hip all the way to her foot. Even though Reiki will flow to wherever it is needed by using its own intelligence, I felt guided to use the hand positions described and followed the guidance, as I have learned to always do.

The lesson material was on psychic surgery where the healer will visualize extending their fingers to great lengths, and then continue the visualization by symbolically reaching into the client's body at the source of the ailment, pulling out the offensive material and disposing of it into the Earth. My practice of this newly learned technique was directed at Nadine's right knee.

By the time we were ready to change places and have her start practicing the psychic surgery technique on me, she was able to get off the table and stand with some, but not all of her weight on her injured knee. She relayed that her pain had subsided considerably. As the class went on throughout the day, she seemed to gradually improve and by the end of the day, was able to walk with us and join us for dinner at a restaurant several blocks away.

By the morning of day three, Nadine was back to 100 percent and in no pain at all. While she had fully expected to head directly to the doctor and potentially to physical surgery on her return from her Reiki class, she now found it unnecessary to do so. Whatever damage that had been done to her tendon causing such terrible pain and weakness was completely gone.

The second example of "Reiki First Aid" that I'll relate today deals with self-healing. Last month, I was building a fence around my back yard to keep Mickey (my Border Collie) and Runt (my daughter's Yorkshire Terrier) from terrorizing the neighbors. Mickey, in particular, needs a place to run since he is rapidly becoming the only obese Border Collie I have ever seen, and he's just a year and a half old!

Part of the work I was doing on the fence involved fastening the wire mesh fabric to wooden fence posts. I was doing this with heavy metal staples, and because I already had my four pound sledge hammer handy from driving the posts into the ground, I didn't bother to go back to the garage to retrieve my regular claw hammer, which would have been the right tool for this job.

This was a very repetitive and boring task as I installed nearly 300 feet of fencing. About halfway through the job, and not paying as much attention as I should, one blow of the sledge hammer came down squarely on the tip and last joint of my left index finger. This hurt so badly that I first I couldn't even feel it. I immediately began to wonder if I could drive myself to the emergency room or if I should try to call one of my daughters. I had thin work gloves on to prevent blisters and I didn't want to take them off in case that was all that was holding my finger tip together!

Right about then, as is becoming commonplace for me now, my guide put the idea in my head to use Reiki to heal my finger. Still sitting on the ground where I was working, I wrapped my right hand around my left index finger, visualized the CKR symbol flowing in the energy stream from the ground, through my chakras and eventually down my arm and out my palm chakra into the injured finger. I held this position for a good 15 or 20 minutes letting the energy flow...if my neighbors saw me, they would have surely just thought I was goofing off as usual!

After a while, the pain in my finger subsided so much that instead of wondering how I was going to get to the ER, I began once again to fasten the wire mesh to the fence posts - using both hands and the four pound sledge hammer (OK so I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed!).

By the time I finished working on this section of the fence late that afternoon, I took the workglove off my left hand for the first time. The fingertip of my index finger, which I am sure had been flattened and crushed by a full direct blow of the sledge hammer, was intact. The only sign of the injury was dark bruising and discoloration of the entire surface of the skin beneath the nail, but there was NO PAIN. Even if I had not broken or shattered any bones, there should still have been significant pain from the bruising and swelling beneath the nail, but the "Reiki First Aid" had been so effective as to completely heal the injury and allow me to finish the job with no lingering after effects.

So the next time you think that Reiki healing is only for problems with emotional or mental sources, remember that Reiki should also be be part of your First Aid Kit!

Just for today...be kind to all Humans!

Bob McGrath
Master Practitioner/Teacher
Pathways to Harmony

Spirituality is in my Genes...

Today's entry deals with spirituality rather than energy healing, but it does go a long way towards explaining why I am so completely open and receptive to belief in things which we cannot readily perceive with our normal senses.

Although my mom would never have wanted to admit it, having been raised in a devout Roman Catholic family in the 1930's and 40's, she was without a doubt the most spiritual person I have ever known. I have either personally been a part of, or born witness to, numerous experiences involving my Mom which provide more evidence than I will ever need on which to base my unshakeable faith in things unseen, including the continuation of the spirit from this existence to the next, and the ability for souls in either realm to communicate with each other.

Today I'd like to share just one of those "Mom stories".

Anna Marie Green McGrath (aka Mom) was widowed suddenly after nearly a half century of marriage on Easter Sunday in 1995 when my Dad, John Fones McGrath, was stricken by a brain stem aneurysm. (The spiritual experience of that particular night is a story in and of itself for another day.)

Showing amazing strength and resilience despite having her world torn apart, Mom did not give in to self-pity but rather fought her way courageously through the incredible grief and loneliness, going on to live another 13 years. Unfortunately, for the last five or six of those years, Mom had to live with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of bone marrow cancer.

Now I have both an older brother (Jeff) and a younger sister (Susan) and in no way, shape or form do I intend in this article to minimize their compassionate caring for Mom during her illness. They both were there for Mom every step of the way, and as you'll see later, had to pick up a lot of my slack as well. It's just that the relevance of this article is to my personal relationship with Mom.

We each had our own roles that developed as co-caregivers for Mom, and mine largely dealt with taking her to all of her doctors' appointments including her regular intravenous infusions of a bone strengthening supplement. She told me many times that, outside of my Dad, I was the only driver she could relax with. Since we grew up in an urban setting and driving was not really a necessity, my sister got her license very late in life so my mother kind of viewed her skills as lacking experience. My brother, on the other hand, carries his high-energy rapid-fire personality into his driving which would make Mom a nervous passenger.

While I also have a lot of faults (and my daughters would add this one to the list), I drive like an old man. I am never in a hurry to get anywhere and just putter along at my own pace. I enjoy being behind the wheel and I think my passengers can pick up on that relaxed confidence and draw a sense of security from it...I know Mom did. I used to have an Oldsmobile SUV with a digital computer that displayed, among other things, the driver's average speed since it was last reset. I used it to torment my daughters while teaching them to drive, but they would get back at me by pulling my stats and laughing openly at my average speeds of 15 or 20 MPH. (Not quite as bad as it sounds....my commute to work is largely on city streets!).

Anyway...that's how I became Mom's driver. Mom actually did possess a valid New York State driver's license but I don't believe it had been used since around 1960, and then only a couple of times. She hated driving. Kind of scary that she could still do so legally!

About 4 years into Mom's illness...on the Friday before Mother's Day in 2007 to be precise, my wife of 25 years, Paula, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Without going into a lot of detail on Paula's battle, it was a very painful cancer that had grown into her chest wall and caused a constant hard pinching sensation preventing her from ever being able to get comfortable, and the cancer had also metastasized to her brain, as lung cancer is prone to do, worsening her condition with seizures and other debilitating symptoms. How I wish I had known Reiki at that time in my life...I could have helped both my wife and my mother so much more than I did!

So now, it became quite a balancing act as I assumed the primary caregiver role for my wife (with a lot of help from my daughters), and still tried to provide the support I know my Mom needed. Obviously I could not be there for Mom as much during this time, and often had to defer my responsibilities to my brother or sister (remember what I said earlier about them picking up my slack!).

Mom never complained and was very loving and supportive of my struggles, but it still broke my heart to not be able to give her 100%. Towards the end of Mom's battle, which came on January 22, 2008, she was in the Hospice wing of St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, NY, which is probably the most beautiful in-patient hospice unit anywhere. It's done up like a fancy hotel, and has kitchen and day room facilities for family and visitors, and the most caring staff you could ever imagine. Between the care hospice provided for my Mom, and the care they later provided for my wife, daughters and myself, I have learned what a beautiful organization hospice is, and I volunteer for them today as a nursing home and vigil volunteer, for bereavement support, and of course, as a Reiki practitioner for patients and caregivers.

Anyway, while Mom was in Hospice for the last six weeks of her life, my days would typically consist of sleeping in two hour increments (Paula needed pain meds every two hours and could not track them herself due to the damage done by the brain mets), going to work (still had to pay the bills and keep the health insurance going!), coming home to relieve my daughter and share a meal with my dying wife, then most nights driving the 30 minutes to Albany to sit bedside with Mom for a couple of hours. Then it was back home and the cycle started again. Of course, there were nights I just couldn't get to the hospital, and it absolutely tore me up.

On one of my visits to Mom, she gave me a nice little piece of ring-like religious jewelry called a "finger rosary", a small representation of a single decade of the rosary beads which Catholics use to meditate on the divine mysteries and pray to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The hospice chaplain had given Mom a handful of these and it would make her feel like a benevolent queen giving them out to her visitors from her bed. Although I personally never wore any sort of jewelry (Paula often got annoyed that I would often not even wear my wedding ring - I just did not like jewelry), this piece had obvious special significance for me so I took to wearing it all the time on a silver chain around my neck. It was not for show but for personal comfort. No one could see it anyway since at that time, I would go to work with a shirt and tie buttoned up to the neck, and a T-shirt underneath, and the chain was always secured behind all that.

Well...late afternoon on January 22, 2008, I came home to eat supper with Paula between work and a trip to see Mom in the hospital. We were sitting at the kitchen table and Paula looked at me and said: "Why are you wearing the chain with your Mom's ring OUTSIDE your shirt?" (I still had my necktie on from work and was still buttoned up to the neck...no way it could have fallen out, but I looked down and sure enough, the finger rosary was dangling on my chest in front of my heart!)

Without even taking a second to think about it, the following came out of my mouth: "Mom just died, and she stopped by on her way out to let me know it was OK that I couldn't be there."

I had, at that time, NO IDEA where this thought or these words came from, but I knew they were true. Of course, as my spiritual journey has evolved since then, the clairsentient ability I inherited from Mom has become second nature and I no longer wonder about the source of such knowledge.

Maybe ten seconds then passed in silence...it might not have been that long but certainly was no longer than that...and the phone rang. My sister Susan was on the line and simply said: "We're at the hospital, and Mom just died."

We are NEVER alone!

Just for today, be grateful...

Bob McGrath
Master Practitioner/Teacher
Pathways to Harmony