January Night

Reflections by Doc Arnett

I hear the wind
high and hard above the trees in the back yard,
feel its stony edge hammer through
the thin legs of my dress pants.

It pounds along the ground,
refreezing the thawed mush of the earth.

It pushes through
the seams of woods and brush,
shoving up against the cold brick and rock
in an indifferent rush against the house.

I step into the unlit porch,
welcoming the warmth inside the darkness.

On such a night as this,
it is good to have a place
beyond the wind’s lancet,
a place where love is strong.

I climb the stairs,
still hearing the wind beyond the walls and roof.

I lie down in warm blankets,
close to the one I love,
grateful, kept, held,
knowing and being known.

Together, we sink into sleep
in the keeping of Him who sends both wind and fire.

H. Arnett
1/26/10

View original post

What would you do if…? Continued trial

When you are diagnosed with a disease which doctors say you shall have to live with it for as long as you can live, it does not mean you have to give in to it and let your self go. Be realistic also not to think you shall be able to get rid of it. No way! sorry for those who have put their hope in a possibility to get that horrible monster out of their body and to be free of any such malignant adversary.

Any illness of the bones and muscles which is considered for life, has to be looked at in that way. Though you shall not be able to cure it you might postpone the badness of it or get to learn with the limitations it brings over you.

I do agree sometimes the pain and the horrible prison you might find yourself can be so much threatening that you wish you were not born or that you would not mind having an end to your life.
The pain sometimes can be so horrible you want to break the walls or explode.

But than I would advice you to try to do the same as I try to do. To speak to the Most High Who gives and takes life and let us not be tempted over that what we really can cope. And you would be surprised that can be a lot. Though sometimes others may feel the pressure even more than you yourself. Once my family had to wait for two days before they got the news I was going to survive. Be sure, it was not me, who had tried to take my life away, but some aggressive road user who had pushed me from the motorway. At the moment of the accident I asked God to be able to stay here on this earth, and I am convinced He allowed it.

An ankylosing spine in which the vertebrae become fused together.

At that time I had already fought many years against Ankylosis Spondilitis (AS, Bekhterev spondylitis or Bechterev or Marie-Strümpell arthritis) after having got Rheumatic fever or rheumatoid arthritis. My job was my salvation. Being a dancer having lots of physical training every day was a battle against my own ‘corps’. But it was also not accident free, so sometimes I was put back or remembered how weak our body can be.

It did not stay with the earliest symptom of chronic lower back pain and when in 1999 two vertebra‘s were broken and I was paralysed for six months I had time enough to be busy with trying to get my body on track again. Certain doctors noticing the destruction of intervertebral disks and the growth of spurs on the vertebrae themselves wanted me to accept I had to stay the rest of my life in a wheelchair and should have enough rest. I resisted the idea to stay the rest of my life in a wheelchair and with help of the Belgian government and health-service I started one of my biggest battles in life, now applying the Kounovsky technique, which I had, for several years, taught and used to help other people with physical and mental problems, for my self. Application of heat, and lots of exercises to learn to move my fingers and the rest again to a point where I could try to maintain a normal range of movement, brought me ten years later to a point where I could say I was ‘the old one’ again, though still more limited than I was before the accident.  But we also should take into account the normal deterioration by age.

After everything seemed to go better we shall be confronted more than once by moments of declension. They may not let you down. Your mind should always be stronger than your body. You have to govern your body by your mind. You can read lots of scientific books about that, but may I advice you to take up a very strange old book perhaps? At first you will perhaps not see the reason to read such very old books, but once you started your adventure going from one book into an other, you will come to see the light and start finding answers.

Before my 1999 accident I was already busy with God. In the 1960s I even wanted to become a priest, but had most difficulty not being able to have a wife and children. The trinity matter and all the pagan rites in the Old Roman Catholic Church in which I grew up disturbed me also a lot. So much that I even went church shopping I had a look at all sorts of denominations and different faith groups.

After some long studies about religion in 1974 I became a non-trinitarian and in 1976 found myself at ease by the Baptists. But a little bit more than ten years later the American Southern Baptists got stronger and stronger and pressed their trinitarian way of thinking, so that thousands of my Baptist brethren and sisters went looking for other congregations. Most of them moved over to the Jehovah Witnesses and to the Church of God, whilst others found their way to the Church of Abrahamic Faith, the Restoration Church, and the Nazarene Friends.

1999 was a turning point and a year of many doubts, me wondering if I had chosen the right way and the right faith. then after my many doubts and my close talk to God, requesting Him to stay alive to take care of my family, I was granted an other life opportunity and got enough time, lying on my back to study once again the Bible and to do research on everything what is written in it.

Now I even became more convinced of the reality of that master-work and good reasons to believe that bestseller.

I was already convinced of our duty to care of mother earth, had been active in the green movement and also stood on the barricades in 1968 fighting for a more righteous society.

Back in the running, the biggest frustration I have to cope with is not being able to dance any more, or not able to enjoy movement, because moving demands a lot of my being (offering me ‘pain for free’). I let not others notice it and do not complain about it, but it is in me, and I know it shall stay with me. To operate my back is too dangerous, thus as long as I can cope with the pain that is my best option, to continue to do whatever I want to do, moving around and doing things I like to do.

And that is what every person should do when trapped in his own body. Not letting it become master of the inner soul, but letting it be a carrier of strive and war-zones of positivity, going forward as long as we can. Never mind that those around us not always see the struggle we have to go through and sometimes do not seem to comprehend us. For the youngsters it is often very difficult to grasp it is sometimes something we can not cope with ourselves. To apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life is not always given to the young ones. Often they also do not understand the work we do and get not paid for, can also be considered work or something necessary. And when it has to do with faith, for them it seems all a waste of energy and time. Hopefully they shall come to learn the value of it.

We can only hope that enough motor neurons shall reach from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and that they can stay enough elastic and reactive to react properly to signals we want to get to them. But also our mind has to be able to think properly. Also that is not always acceptable for the youngsters that we forget things or at certain moments can come up the right word any more. Wear and tear gets master over us, but also that should not get us to stop to continue our ‘battle’.

Having had several unpleasant and painful experiences, I had to learn the hard way that “Life is hard”. Previous to my serious accident I had put lots of energy in many people and lots of cases. Having for a third time to build up my life, this time like beginning from scrap again, because I had memory loss, and had to learn everything about what happened in the past again. This was an incredible difficult task, to take loss of languages, which still gets me frustrated at moments.
But I also learned not to loose energy any more in ‘lost cases’ and to stop in time to stay in contact with certain people or tackling certain subjects. I found out that it is better to stay in contact with the right people. It is much easier to surround oneself with people who can ‘energeticise’, those who can bring something positive to our life as well, by not pulling it down and by not considering us ‘lower’ or ‘disabled’ or ‘not performant’ any more. Yes it is much better to get positive people around you. People that won’t only rejoice with you in the good times but and who will not stay away when it goes bad with you. People who are willing to support us in the difficult times are the ones we better have around us.

For that reason I also wanted to spread more positivism and share positive ideas, and therefore created this lifestyle magazine, also in the hope people shall find some articles which can strengthen and courage them as well give them more hope and perhaps also shall get them to know other people with similar problems who can help them further.

Often it helps when we do know we are not alone and that others have foudn solutions which can be good for us as well. From each-others experiences and from sharing ideas we also can learn a lot.

But not only the people are important. Also the things we do and the things we eat.

I am convinced that what we eat and think is very important. So we should take care we try to eat and use as much as possible natural materials not burdening our body with animal material. We do not need meat and to much meat is eaten in our greedy society. A huge variety of fruit and vegetables will help you on your way to have less pain whilst avoiding as much as possible the synthetic medicinal drugs. If you never tried it, please do it, go to a homeopathic doctor and see what he can offer you to reduce your ‘hell’ to something you can bear.

With a good natural diet and natural drugs (homeopathy and phytotherapy) you shall notice life will be so much easier. Ad to it a daily dose of some walking and daily exercise and you shall go a step higher.

And yes, why should you not think about some other part of life, the spiritual life?

What would you do if you know your body is hurting you so much or luck does not seem to have come your way?

Why would you not reconsider everything that happened to you and those you love and come to see that there is more behind it all?

Would it be nice to know that there is some promise which can become a reality for you and me as well?

In the Bible are promises given to individuals and to people or nations. Prophesies have come true so why not shall the last ones which are not fulfilled yet, not come true?
Have a look at them. Think about them. Think also about some one who had a body which seemed normal and not affected by pains or limitations. That man from Nazareth walked for miles and could not stop talking about the One he loved and trusted. He showed why we too should trust Him Who is much mightier than that man who walked through desserts and was tempted more than once, but did not give in. He managed to put his own will aside, to do the will of his heavenly Father.
Why should we also not try to listen to that Father and give our hands, our life also in His hands?

You better be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you and choose for the right people around you. Always remembering that self-preservation is the highest law of nature and that being angry upon yourself or a situation is not going to help. And remember that

You only lose energy when life becomes dull in your mind

Know there is a good foundation to go your way but be always careful where you want to put down your steps or leave your marks or sow your seeds.

And most important to remember:

Never give up or never give in. Keep running the battle.

+

Preceding articles

What would you do if…?

What Are You Seeking?

Denis Wright looking at the world of human beings

Mourners Celebrate Life Of Inspirational Cancer Teen

Searching for fulfillment and meaning through own efforts, facing unsatisfaction and depression

Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still

See the conquest and believe that we can gain the victory

May we have doubts

++

Additional reading

1. What would you do if…?
2. Meaning of life 
3. The business of this life
4. When discouraged facing opposition
5. The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places
6. When you don’t know what to do and hate yourself
7. Do not be so busy adding up your troubles
8. Be Not Thou Weary
9. Confidence
10. Hope begins in the dark
11. Suffering
12. Suffering continues
13. Offer in our suffering
14. Suffering – through the apparent silence of God
15. Relapse plan
16. God’s instruction about joy and suffering
17. God’s promises to us in our suffering
18. Emotional pain and emotional deadness
19. From pain to purpose
20. Suffering leading to joy
21. Surprised by time in joys & sufferings
22. Allowed to heal
23. Old story to inspire and to give hope to those who are oppressed
24. An anarchistic reading of the Bible (2)—Creation and what follows
25. 1 Corinthians 15 Hope in action
26. End of the Bottom Line
27. Light going on in darkness
28. Solution for Willing hearts filled with gifts
29. Luck
30. Shelter in the morning
31. Vision blurred by cumulative burden of divisions
32. Never too late to start going to the right end
33. Not words of any organisation should bind you, but the Word of God
34. I Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late !
35. Give your worries to God
36. Call unto God so that He can answer you
37. Trust the future to God
38. Does God answer prayer?
39. Make a joyful noise unto Yahweh, rejoice, and sing praise unto Jehovah
40. God loving people justified
41. God my fence, my hope for the future
42. God is my refuge and my fortress in Him I will trust
43. Separation from God in death, the antithesis of life
44. Seeing the world through the lens of his own experience
45. Knowing where to go to
46. A Living Faith #1 Substance of things hoped for
47. A Living Faith #5 Perseverance
48. A Living Faith #9 Our Manner of Life
49. Final forming of a person’s character lies in his own hands
50. Happy is the person who knows what to remember of the past
51. To have fire in yourself to warm others
52. Blessed are those who freely give
53. Words must be weighed, not counted
54. Honor your own words as if they were an important contract
55. Obstacles to your goal
56. Foundation to go the distance
57. Remember there’s a light in the next day
58. Let tomorrow be sufficient
59. Fear not tomorrow. God is already there
60. A time for everything
61. People should know what you stand for
62. Finish each day and be done with it
63. Character is built
64. Patience is the ability to count down before blasting off
65. A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks away
66. Weapons of our warfare
67. Without God no purpose, no goal, no hope
68. You God hold the future
69. To belong to = toebehoren
70. Possibility to live
71. Don’t Envy the World
72. Walking alone?
73. Careful what you sow, it might grow
74. Be a ready giver
75. Sow and harvests in the garden of your heart
76. Joy: Foundation for a Positive Life

+++

Further reading

1. The unfairytale
2. He Is Disabled???!
3. Disabled entrance
4. Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) Awareness Month
5. 9 Top Rehab Centers for Spinal Cord Injuries
6. Blind
7. Invisible Strength
8. Life, reality and fairy dust
9. My “illness”
10. The “web”
11. Infinite Inhibition
12. The Amygdalin Explosion
13. A Spoonful of Sour
14. The Struggle
15. Eleven.
16. Jaini’s Diaries turns One!
17. Habits
18. Riot Erupts At Wheelchair Basketball Tournament
19. Yeshiva Invites Their CP Friends for Shabbos
20. Prompt for the Day: “Diverse”
21. Prompt for the Day: “Chaos”
22. Prompt for the Day: “Stroll”
23. Disabled and Pregnant
24. Creative solution helps him work in the arts
25. Oaklands: Part 1
26. 13 Days To Go!
27. The Wait
28. Falling in love
29. I’m Back.
30. I’m not THAT old…
31. Keeper of Sunlight
32. A break in your workout routine causing you troubles?
33. Frustrated, Confused and Under the Weather
34. Dear Patience…
35. I Can’t Resist A Good Challenge!
36. What the heck is Stress anyway?| Ataraxia Series 07 | Understanding the Biological Reality of Stress
37. Frustrating Transition
38. Trapped?
39. Trapped 2
40. The wall…
41. Caitlyn Jenner might de-transition back to a Bruce? claims Biographer
42. Cold Bones
43. When You Feel Trapped
44. Not much to say
45. Life Goes On
46. Stop Running
47. When God Intervenes
48. The True Nature of God
49. Standing Up For What You Believe

+++

Related articles

• Osteoarthritis probably caused by inflammation
• Stem Cells to Treat Chronic Inflammatory Disease
• Cervicogenic Headache and Cervical Spine Manipulation
• Spinal Fusion Not Always Necessary for Back Pain, Studies Say
• Charlotte Chiropractors Offer Natural Pain Relief Using Spinal Adjustments
• Can a Car Accident Cause Scoliosis?
• Serum Immunoglobulin G Levels to Porphyromonas gingivalis Peptidylarginine Deiminase Affect Clinical Response to Biological Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drug in Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Well: Ask Well: Does Turmeric Have Proven Health Benefits?
• Largest Spine Registry in North American Rebrands: Meet QOD