I have been blessed to travel to many places on pilgrimages and retreats. This January however I felt God was prompting me to go on a holiday to rest and relax and to feel that sense of being fully alive in the sunshine. I knew that going on a sun holiday would lift my mood. I’ve experienced how getting more sunshine can be a remedy for stress, worry, anxiety and depression, so going to Lanzarote was the perfect opportunity to to get out in the sun and enjoy what I love – being in the outdoors.
Sometimes when I am alone in a church, or in nature, I like to sing praise and worship songs and pray to the Holy Spirit to act in my life; while at home I listen to Spirit Radio to help me to be in a positive frame of mind. The lyrics of the song ‘In Jesus Name (God Of Possible)’ by American Christian musician Katy Nichole spoke to my heart and prompted me to see the ‘breakthrough’ and healing that God has accomplished in my life over the past year.
I was recently fortunate enough to secure a ticket to a Liverpool FC home game in Anfield. A blessing, without a doubt, for it gave me the opportunity once more to set off from Ireland West Airport for a return visit to this maritime city in the northwest of England, where the river Mersey meets the Irish Sea.
Recently I have been reflecting on the power of positive thinking. I realised that sometimes in my periods of depression I have succumbed too easily to negative thinking. I am grateful to God and the mental health practitioners I have engaged with for guiding me back to the still point, that place in my heart where I can radiate the joy that I receive from my faith to those I meet.
This summer God put a call in my heart to go on pilgrimage to Medjugorje. At first I found the trip challenging. But I got solace from the fact that I was on pilgrimage and I felt Jesus and Mary definitely wanted me to be in Medjugorje. I was reminded of the opening line of the Prayer of Teilhard de Chardin “Above all, trust in the slow work of God.” It was into the second half of the pilgrimage when I felt lighter and I began to allow the sun to stream in.