Article January 13, 2003 Issue

Three episodes in a journey of healing

By Lynne Darnell

DURING MY COLLEGE DAYS , I felt very close to God. When problems came up, I would ask God for direction, and ideas would come that helped solve them. Often the ideas came as intuitions, sometimes as an audible "word behind me," telling me specifically what to do.

Now fast-forward 20 years. My husband passed on, and I began a struggle that tested my reliance on God. I felt as though my skills in listening to God had become rusty, nonfunctioning. Three experiences, in which an understanding of how God made me was the basis of prayer, brought me back on track.

One day a little over two years ago, I was out jogging when one knee buckled as I was going down a hill. I limped around for a while, pampering my knee, being careful not to irritate it. I didn't even think of praying. I just tried to ignore the problem.