Article May 5, 2003 Issue

Change, sea legs, and rebuilding

By Barbara M. Vining

"BUT YOU'VE HAD SUCH A TROUBLE-FREE LIFE. How will you know how to help people with difficult problems?" This was my mother's response when I—a very young person at the time—told her I was embarking on a career in spiritual healing. My immediate response was "The world would be in a whole lot of trouble if everyone had to go through all the problems other people are dealing with before they could help them."

Then I explained to her what I intuited then, and what I've found true through the years: Though the particular circumstances of one individual may differ greatly in character and intensity from those of another, common aspects of humanity are shared by everyone—and specific spiritual truths are universally available and discernable to bring healing to every human need.

Consider change, for example. I can scarcely imagine the impact on the people of Iraq of the enormous changes that have been taking place in their country. Nevertheless, I am familiar with the unsettling feelings that can surface in the human heart when changes or transitions—even small ones—occur. At such times, I feel a definite need to find my sea legs—something to steady me and give me confidence that I can move forward constructively.