"Healing the Soul" (part 3) by Lawrence S. Perry, B.S., M.Div

"Healing the Soul" (part 3)

Introduction

If you were to go the Colorado Olympic Training Center and talk to some of athletes in training and ask the question, "How do you prepare for a competition?" Some would say that it begins by preparing your mind. This preparation requires that you, through the discipline of meditation, concentrate on your given routine and imaging your completing the performance perfectly. The theory is that by training the mind the body will follow. No matter what the sport, ice skating, down hill slalom, diving, or gymnastics, you want to train your muscles to respond automatically to what your brain tells them to do. Such a mental excersise demonstrates the power of the mind to direct your human response. Taking this principle a step further, using the mind to heal the soul is an important concept in the healing of memories while allowing the Spirit of Christ to guide you along the way.

Over the years, I have used the gift of inner healing in helping people overcome emotional trama which has left them with a deep sense of guilt, shame, betrayal, the pain of physical abuse, abandonment, and the list goes on. For example, I have been able to witness a healing of a young man who accidentally killed his neighbor. He needed to find forgiveness. Then, there was the young mother who came to me filled with shame as she finally confronted the reality that she was the victim of incest. There was another woman who sought to heal her soul having been victimized by a rape when she was younger.  Each of these situations was successful as we prayed and allowed the Spirit to transform their memories.

Now, there are some in the Christian community who argue that this gift is not found in the Scriptures and therefore is not valid. I, however, will argue the point and direct them to the fruits of this spiritual exercise. Is it not the role of the Spirit of Christ to address the emotional wounds of his beloved? Doesn't Jesus still heal? 

The Memory

Consequently, to heal a memory you have to be able to return to that memory.  To do this, I remind my subject that their brains are like a DVR and are always recording what we see, feel, smell and touch. And with our minds, we have the unique ability to hit the rewind button and go back in time. When they do this, I usually have them get into a comfortable sitting position and then close their eyes. They are then instructed to go back to the day of the trauma and begin to describe in every detail what they see, touch, hear, or smell. It goes without saying that this can be difficult and emotional. There are times, however, when a subject cannot recall a specific memory. In such cases, there is a composite memory. The composite memory is made up of multiple memories woven into one. All of these memories are of multiple episodes. In any case, it is extremely important for the subject to articulate everything they are experiencing which helps me to gain insight to memory and trauma. As they articulate the event, there are many times when I can see some unique feature that was missed or deemed irrelevant, only to discover that these events are extremely important. After the memory is relived, we begin to discuss their thoughts, feelings, and observations of what they had experienced. This review of the event will at times offer new insights into their trauma.

Then, I will ask them to revisit the memory, only this time, to allow Jesus to become visible. What is interesting is that sometimes they can see him, and on other occasions they might hear His voice or sense His presence. In every case, I have to be careful not to direct the scene. Each person has to be allowed to imagine their own scenario without me interjecting my thoughts, as tempting as it is at times. Consequently, their healing comes from within them, which is critical.  If I were to interject my thoughts and feelings, then their healing can escape them. Their encounter needs to be their personal experience.  Furthermore, I have discovered that when the Spirit enters the memory, what is done, is far different from what I might think in terms of outcome.  For example, I was dealing with a subject who was victimized by incest. As she played back her memory and she saw Jesus enter the room, he walked up to the bed she and the relative were him. I was expecting the Christ to angrily confront the man. That did not happen. Rather, Jesus went over to the bed and put the little girl and the man on His knees and said, "I love you both!"  The little girl was then able to say to the man, whom she loved, "I forgive you."  This act was extremely important, since the relative had passed away a few years after this story. She finally had closure to her nightmare and found peace and resolution.

After we finished with the second memory, we had a debriefing. I then asked her, if that second memory with Jesus was real? She said that it was very real!  As we continued to talk, I could see a transformation in her face, and her face told the rest of the story. There were no more tears and no more tension in her facial expression. She was unburdened. Most importantly, as the Spirit guided her, the Spirit made know the true character of Jesus. She learned that in the ugly memory, that the Christ was there, and she was not alone.  As He made himself known, He expressed His love to her and the relative.  And finally, Jesus bought reconciliation and healing to her soul.

Conclusion

The healing of memories is an important tool for members in the Christian community who have been scarred by emotional trauma. When this is done with a good practitioner, this spiritual exercise can quickly address the wounds that damage the soul. These wounds need to be exposed by prayer, meditation, and discernment. As we use the gift of our minds to look into our past, we invite the Christ to transform those hurtful memories into  positive ones.  As a result, the memory that lives on in the person is a joyful encounter with the Lord of Life.