Editorial

July 14, 2010

In honor of this 12th healing/wellness issue, I have a story to tell. About 20 years ago, I was taking a class called “Jewish Perspective on Healing and Wholeness” at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco. The teacher was Rabbi Nancy Flam. At the end of the class, she explained that in our Jewish tradition it is not “kosher” to study just for study sake. One has to use the knowledge in some concrete way, to take action with what one learned.

She said she was planning to create a weekly Jewish healing prayer service and she asked if anyone in the class would like to contribute to it. I had been experimenting with affirmations for healing, and I decided to put together a nice one for this new service. With my long list of affirmations it took me days to come up with a combination that was short but also hopefully effective.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “affirm” this way: (1a) validate confirm; (b) to state positively; (2) to assert (as a judgment or decree) as valid or confirmed; (3) to express dedication to. Affirmations can be beneficial if one says them to oneself or out loud with the belief that the words are in the process of coming true.

This is congruent with the belief that our thoughts create our reality, that thoughts are significant and filled with potential. Not that one should feel guilty or overly concerned if one has unkind or unpleasant thoughts, but that they are important even though we cannot see them. I remember reading something such as atoms and molecules of thoughts move faster than the atoms in a chair or other inanimate objects. I am reminded of the saying,“If you can conceive it and you can believe it, you can achieve it.”

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