[stylist] Gratitude, a Reflection
Lynda Lambert
llambert at zoominternet.net
Mon Nov 12 16:05:25 UTC 2012
Michelle, you have given me another meaning that I had not even thought
about! Thank you. I would like to submit this essay to a faith-based
magazine and I really needed the good advice Chris was so generous to give
me.
I had an article published in Guideposts magazine last year, and I think
this could be considered by them. Who knows? But, what I do know is that
they edit things very well and you have many conversations with the editor
months before the publication. I am going to give it a try! I did not write
it with anything else in mind except sharing an experience I had, at the
time.
I would like to continue to write personal reflections such as this one, as
a gift to my children and grand children some day - in the form of a book I
am writing just for them. Previously, all my work has been research based
articles with a focus on literature and art. I still plan to do more of
those things, as my interest persists.
Thanks, Michelle. I deeply appreciate your contribution to my reflection.
Lynda
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michelle Clark" <mcikeyc at aol.com>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2012 8:40 AM
Subject: Re: [stylist] Gratitude, a Reflection
> Hi Linda,
>
> I appreciate your article. It is my faith as well that makes me have a
> true
> understanding of what you have written.
>
> In school, many years ago, I was taught the movement of butterflies from
> one flower to another contributes to pollination. It is a story such as
> this
> that has the possibility to pollinate another , give hope, and spread the
> message.
>
> Michelle
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda
> Lambert
> Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2012 11:45 AM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Gratitude, a Reflection
>
> Here is my contribution to the writing prompt recently handed down by
> Chris.
> I will attach a copy of the Word document and I will copy/paste it below
> this message as well.
>
>
> "Butterflies Bring Healing" by Lynda Lambert
>
>
>
>
>
> In the spring time a myriad of flowers begin to scatter themselves
> over
> the acres of wild meadows and fields; along the rural roadsides; in
> meadows
> overlooking swiftly moving waters of the creeks. This is our annual
> dance
> of life forces, when the earth becomes warm and every living thing bursts
> forth in celebration. The movement of this dance comes forth in living
> color; in Western Pennsylvania.
>
>
>
> Months later, the dance of the butterflies and flowers comes to an end.
> The days will once again bring in the crisp mornings; the clocks will be
> turned back; the grass grows slick and cold; there eventually will be no
> more flowers or butterflies. There was one exception to this though, as I
> think about it today. I remember one miraculous afternoon in January,
> 2008.
> On that day, I watched quietly while two butterflies played together in
> the
> air; it was perfectly normal.
>
>
>
> When I see a butterfly it brings back a specific memory for me.
>
>
>
> It was over five years ago. I had just lost most of my sight. I had
> not
> yet had any help, and did not yet know about technologies that would help
> me, nor did I yet know of rehabilitation for the blind. I had no white
> cane;
> no way of doing anything I had done just a couple months before.
> Overnight,
> my entire life was transformed into something that was new and unexpected.
> I
> could not use the elevator; could not see the buttons to press; didn't
> know
> on what floor it had landed. Simple things like that, we took for granted,
> but those simple things were now a mystery to me.
>
>
>
> It was at this very time that my second daughter, Heidi Melinda, was
> diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Now, I stood at her bedside in the IC unit
> in
> a Pittsburgh, PA hospital. Her surgery to remove the tumor that had spread
> to a stage 3C cancer was completed a few days before. But nothing had gone
> well, and within a couple of days she was near death. They had put her in
> an
> induced coma to try to give her sick lungs the opportunity to begin to
> heal.
>
> Day after day, it was one step down after another.
>
>
>
> Even though I could not see very much, I was staying at the hospital
> day
> and night. I could find my way from the waiting room, to the bathroom, and
> to my daughter's room. I slept for short periods during the night, sitting
> in a chair in the waiting room of the IC unit. Then, I would walk back to
> her room, to sit by her bedside.
>
>
>
> She was kept in a coma for over 2 weeks. Nurses and doctors were at her
> side or directly outside her room working on the monitors and computers
> continuously, monitoring her, searching for the right mix of drugs to help
> her. We waited there in limbo as each day flowed into the next in this
> netherworld existence. There was nothing we could do but pray and wait.
> Family members came and went, all helpless.
>
>
>
> One afternoon I sat in the chair at the bottom of her bed with my eyes
> focused on her laying there with tubes and apparatus all over her body.
> The
> hospital staff had named Heidi, The Sleeping Princess. On this afternoon,
> the Sleeping Princess had two unexpected visitors. They did not come in
> through the door.
>
>
>
> As I watched Heidi, two enormous butterflies were there. They emerged
> from the base of her feet and they flew back and forth, playing with each
> other as butterflies do when you see them in a field. The two butterflies
> were a deep red crimson and they were the size of my hand. They were
> bright
> and very large. As I watched them, it was the most normal scene I could
> ever
> have seen. Heidi's body was the field over which they were zig-zagging
> back
> and forth over as they moved towards her head. It felt like I watched them
> for quite awhile. I believe it was probably only seconds. It was like an
> eternal moment, when time did not exist, and I had been a witness to
> timelessness.
>
>
>
> The butterflies had emerged from another dimension, it seemed. The two
> had made themselves visible to me. They gave me new hope for my daughter.
> I
> knew they were a pictorial symbol of the Holy Spirit. A Spirit made
> visible.
> I recognized that the Holy Spirit had come to visit the Sleeping Princess
> that afternoon and that this would be the afternoon when Heidi would begin
> to recover. I was assured at that moment when I saw this vision that my
> daughter would heal and that she had experienced a miracle.
>
>
>
> Today, after five years following surgery, Heidi remains free of
> ovarian
> cancer. This, in spite of the tests done in surgery that had shown the
> cancer cells were throughout her entire body. She undergoes tests and
> scans
> all the time in Pittsburgh. She has an entourage of doctors who are
> keeping
> a close watch on her.
>
>
>
> Heidi has lasting side effects from her surgery and her long recovery
> time. Her body remembers the trauma; is still responding to it. It is
> clear
> to me that our bodies do carry memories. Those memories in the entire body
> continue to have a response to the trauma it went through.
>
>
>
> Heidi is an artist. She has a studio in the woods, on a mountain
> top.
> She actively works at her art, and is in exhibitions including an
> international invitation one that her work is in right now.
>
>
>
> Shortly after she recovered, she organized The Sleeping Princess Team
> with her friends. The team raises money for the Ovarian Cancer Coalition
> of
> Pittsburgh. Last fall was the fifth year that the team and her family
> walked
> with her in the sunshine at the "Walk to Break the Silence." Our little
> team
> has been able to raise over $20,000. in funds to contribute to the cause.
>
>
>
> Yes, butterflies are harbingers; of renewal; transformation; healing;
> Divine presence; gratitude.
>
> This joyous dancing dyad of large crimson red butterflies, were a
> reflection of the Creator who sent them to me on a bleak winter day. It
> was
> a message that came at the darkest moment of my life; right on time!
>
>
>
> (the end)
>
> Copyright,2012. All Rights Reserved
>
> Posted on blog, June 1, 2012: Walking By Inner Vision
>
> http://www.walkingbyinnervision.blogspot.com
>
> Revised: 10 November, 2012.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Lynda Lambert,MFA
> My Blog: http://www.walkingbyinnervision.blogspot.com
> My Website: http://lyndalambert.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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