Category: Philosophy

Post-Surgery Recovery Meditation—Part 1

I’m so glad the doctor wanted me to have light anesthesia for the three-hour surgery. I don’t think I could have knowingly reclined in the chair that long, with him cutting and scraping tissue from the roof of my mouth, using it to make new gum tissue in front of my four bottom teeth. Every once-in-a-while he’d talk to me, and I’d respond. And every once-in-a-while the pain and pressure were severe enough to make me shift around and moan a little. But he said I was a model patient and everything went perfectly. Thank you, Lord!

 

Post-surgery prescription—

Recovery usually comes with a winding path, and this recovery was no different.

I knew I was going to have lay low—very low—during recovery. I wasn’t allowed to do any strenuous exercise or activity (I finally found out that their definition for “strenuous” was doing anything that raised my blood pressure. (!) I couldn’t bend over—too much pressure on the surgical site and blood flow into the area. I wasn’t to brush my teeth (ach!), or eat hot foods, or chew on anything hard. Since I don’t do well with aspirin or ibuprofen, he sent me home with several packets of the narcotic Vicodin and a prescription for more. I also got a handful of ibuprofen packets, just in case, but I decided to stick to my liquid child ibuprofen, in small amounts.

 

Dealing with physical post-op pain—

Even though I don’t like taking pain meds, I did take them. People who take their pain meds to stay on top of the pain, rather than waiting for it to ramp up and get out of control, recover better. And I wanted to recover. And sleep enhances healing. And pain meds encourage sleep.

So I tried to follow his instructions to the letter and then some. I alternated acetaminophen and ibuprofen to manage the pain. I used the little ice gel pack (I got my ice!), ten minutes on and ten off, unless I was sleeping, which ended up happening a lot. I stuck to cold liquid foods the first day. (Cold beef broth is surprisingly tasty when it’s one of only several foods you can take in.) Then came the cold cottage cheese, buckets of cold mac and cheese. Then a little goat yogurt. Even though I was allowed to “chew” on soft foods, I didn’t the first week. When I finally did get around to chewing on really soft chicken and quinoa, it was a catastrophe. So away went the chicken and quinoa.

 

Dealing with the day-to-day recovery—

And so it went. I wasn’t allowed to pull my lip down to inspect his handiwork, but I had to gently swab diluted hydrogen peroxide on the area twice a day, and I could feel the patchwork quilt he’d sewed into the roof of my mouth. Everything I did revolved around what I needed to do to heal. And, for the most part, that ended up being my meditation.

It made all of the difference in the world having a caretaker to rely on. My precious husband stayed home to work and to see to my needs the first week. “Don’t worry about doing anything. You just had major surgery. You need to focus on recovering,” he kept saying. And that made all of the difference in the world too. Knowing I didn’t have to worry about meeting any deadlines, returning any emails, or making sure things got done. (I did text a lot, which was nice since I couldn’t chat on the phone.)

 

The positive emotional, physical and spiritual effects—

And after the first week of pain and the pallid skin color that comes with illness, I noticed something. The healthy color started returning to my face. I actually looked healthier than I have in some time. The worry lines started softening along with some of my “older looking” features. My eyes looked brighter, happier, even though I didn’t wear a smear of makeup for three weeks.

While lying in bed one day, I realized how happy I was to be able to focus on one thing, and feel stress-free while doing it. I realized how miserable and worn down physically, emotionally and spiritually I can become on just a day-to-day basis, with an over-scheduled and over-committed life. I realized just how much life, and the way we choose to live it, can drain you of energy, happiness and joy.

 

Recovery comparisons—

All of this made me think of a friend who battled breast cancer some years ago, a young mom of four.

Her husband—a worship leader—had gotten a job at another church, and we didn’t see much of one another, although I knew she was battling cancer. When my husband and I were out to dinner one night, we ran into her. She was going through chemo, had lost her beautiful mane of dark brown silky hair and was wearing a dark brown wig cut into a cute bob.

But her face looked strained and her body exhausted. Way beyond the look of suffering a cancer patient normally shows when undergoing chemo. When I learned she was still working at the bookstore during her treatments, I asked why. Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes looked sad when she responded. “I have to. To keep my medical insurance.”

I felt horrible for her. My friend couldn’t lean into her treatment or cancer recovery, meditate on it, and focus on victory because she had to work. She had to drag herself out of bed everyday to put in her hours just so she could keep getting the treatment she needed. Not only did she have the stress of severe sickness weighing on her heart and chewing away at her body, she had the emotional and physical stress of maintaining a daily work grind.

My friend finished her treatment, had breast reconstruction and seemed to be doing well. Until the cancer returned, and she passed away. She worked through all of it, and I often wonder: How would she have done if she’d been able to focus completely on her health and recovery? If other burdens had not weighed down her heart, soul and body.

I’ve had other friends who’ve battled cancer in much the same way. Although they didn’t have to work, they lived as though they did. Determined to make sure life went on as usual during an unusual time, they pushed and exercised, and tried to muscle through the treatment. And none of the people I’m talking about survived. They may have seemed to be doing okay, but then the cancer returned or metastasized beyond treatment. The one friend told me she returned to cycling training as quickly as she could in order to get the chemo out of her body.

Now I haven’t done any research on it, but I’m wondering if that kind of approach typically leads to that kind of ending. I know it’s important to do things you love and maintain social contact, and family connection during a time of illness, I wonder if, in our haste to pursue normal or not let anything change our course, we don’t deliberately lean into and meditate on healing as much as we should. Nobody likes pain or problems, and we tend to fight and run from them with all of our being. But maybe leaning into them, meditating on them, and embracing them is the best prescription.

There really is a lot to be learned in the course of an illness and recovery. Maybe wrapping our arms wide around it and working to extract everything we can from the event is the best thing we can do to enhance healing.

 

To consider—

What are you going through right now that you’d be better off leaning into?

 

NEXT WEEK I’ll talk about several things I learned and took action to correct—to enhance my physical, emotional and spiritual health now, and in the future!

If you join me this Wednesday for Workout Wednesdays, I’ll give you a brief overview of what went right and what went wrong in the exercise department during my initial recovery.

 

Until then,

Don’t miss a single meditation opportunity in your life!

Blessings,

 Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Pre-Surgery Preparation: Prayer and Meditation

I’m having surgery tomorrow morning. Early. Check in time is 6:45 AM, with surgery scheduled for 7:00. I’m not looking forward to it, but who ever really looks forward to having surgery. I’m worried. Okay, more than a little anxious about the pain, since the type of surgery I’m having is rumored to be excruciating.

In an effort to keep my teeth decay-free during this horrid two and a half years of wearing braces, I’ve overzealously brushed and flossed and managed to severely damage the gums around my bottom four front teeth. Because of the gum recession, the bone density of the roots on two of the teeth has already decreased to such a dangerously low point that I am at risk of losing the teeth. Ugh!

 

Surgery preparations—

Of course there is a mile-long list of things I must do and must not do prior to the procedure. Like: stop all anti-inflammatory meds (like Advil, ibuprofen, etc.) four days prior to surgery so my blood clotting capability isn’t affected; and no concentrated caffeine drinks, like Red Bull. (No problem there.) No strenuous exercise 24 hours before surgery (I should have asked him to define “strenuous.”) And stop food and water intake six hours before.

 

 The process—

He’ll be carving out tissue from the roof of my mouth and making new gum out of it to cover up the exposed roots. To enhance healing, he’ll be drawing my blood and mixing the platelets and stem cells with tissue and applying that to the wound. I won’t be able to apply ice packs anywhere near the surgery site (ice is always my pain treatment go-to) because any pressure to the surgical site can undo the delicate tissue. So much for the hoped-for ice.

Recovery time is six weeks, with the first several days off-limits to chewing, sucking liquids through a straw, (the vacuum can undo the sutures and tissue), or tooth brushing in that area. (I don’t think I’m going to attempt to brush any tooth in my mouth those first several days!) Room temperature liquids and swishing with water will be the norm.

Along with a lot of pain.

And that’s what I’m preparing the most for.

 

Meditating for mental (and physical) success—

The last thing I want to do is go into the morning exhausted and mentally overwhelmed. So I needed to spend today (the day before surgery) in mental and spiritual preparation for this three-hour, anesthesia-blessed procedure. I’m laying low, resting, doing some last-minute tidying up around the house so I can recover in a clean, dust-free environment.

And I’m spending a lot of time praying.

I’m asking God to prepare my body and mind for this, and to respond well, and joyfully. After all, my concern led to questioning the condition of my teeth, and two dentists recommending the best oral surgeon in town, a guy who uses the latest and greatest procedures to maximize success. And I managed to get this done before being surprised—like when my two front teeth might have ended up in a crisp apple I had just ripped into.

I’m thanking God for going ahead of me to prepare the procedure room, every last bit of equipment and the doctor and his assistant for the surgery. I’m requesting that God guides the doctor’s hands, and the assistant’s. I’m praying the procedure will go better than expected, and faster, with accelerated healing.

 

I’m also doing a lot of deep breathing exercise because that has the potential to decrease my stress and agitation and improve my immune system. (It’s the breathing in yoga exercises that makes that activity so successful health-wise.) Adding some light stretching will help, since I’ll be stuck in that chair for so long.

 

And I’m playing some of my favorite praise and worship songs, both high energy and low, to remind myself of God’s presence and promises and to increase my sense of awareness and presence—the state of mind and body posture one assumes when facing intimidating or stressful circumstances.

 

Overall goal—

In a nutshell, I’m focusing. And I’ll be leaning into the recovery. Resting as much as I need, or my body dictates. Setting aside other distractions. Maintaining a sense of peace and quiet amidst lots (or as much as possible) of smiles and laughter, even if they have to be internal. Doing a lot of general reading, which is a favorite activity I never have enough time for. I’m really looking forward to that!

And I’ll be spending a lot of time with my dogs, gazing into their eyes. Studies have shown that people holding gazes with their dogs showed increases in different hormones, like oxytocin, which is a feel-good hormone. Letting them give you pooch smooches also helps, but I won’t be able to allow them to do that. Too much risk to the graft.

 

It’s not going to be easy, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to describe it as fun. But if everything goes according to plan, it won’t have to be as scary or painful or disrupting emotionally, physically or spiritually as it could be.

 

Reader request—

I would appreciate your prayers. At this point, I’m planning to be away from the blog for two weeks, so please check back around July 9 for the next Mediation Mondays installment.

 

Until then, thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers, and be thinking about how you can lighten your mental and physical load through planned and structured meditation!

 

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo Copyright Desiring God

Celebrating Milestones—Becoming a Thinker of Great Thoughts

My older son, who is my first-born child, emerged from the womb with bright, wide-open eyes taking in his new surroundings. “Are they always this alert?” I asked the doctor who’d just delivered him.

“No. That one’s going to require extra stimulation.”

Oh, how right that doctor was!

 

My son was busy, and a innovative, master Lego builder. He thought big thoughts and dreamed big dreams. He disrupted his first-grade class with too much socializing and talking after finishing all of his seatwork early and having nothing else to do. When I brought him home to home school, I worked hard to stay ten steps ahead of him. I wasn’t always successful.

One day in college he called me to have a philosophical chat, something we still enjoy doing. “I’m thinking about going into artificial intelligence,” he said. “But I’m worried about it. The moral implications. In the wrong hands, AI could be dangerous and disastrous. I just don’t know if I should do it.”

We chatted, and I gave him some things to think about. But mostly I just listened to him . I think he needed to hear himself talk, to lay out all of his pros and cons. And then make a decision.

 

 

Here he is, seven years later, wearing a Doctor of Philosophy robe and cap and holding a PhD in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Specifically Mechatronics—a technology that combines electronics and mechanical engineering.

And I think it’s ironic that I now have a Doctor of Philosophy in the family at a time when we’ve been studying philosophy and the great thinkers here on Meditation Mondays.

 

Now my son has a “great thinker” degree. And that’s what they encouraged him to do when he arrived on campus for his M.S. and PhD combined program.

 

At first, he thought it was pretty swell, being encouraged to stroll around campus, sit and think and take notes about his thinkings. He still does things like that, especially when he’s out hiking the Cascades or Snoqualmie with his trusty hiking buddy Nox, (my adorable Maltipoo granddog). But now he mostly thinks great, useful thoughts. Practical thoughts that produce designs and devices to help mankind. He knows the process of thinking and putting to the test great thoughts, but he’s more focused on the moral issues and ramifications.

For that, I’m grateful.

I hope his B-HAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) dreams come true!

 

Thanks for letting me indulge in family news the last two posts and let my pride ooze over a little more than it should.

See you back here on the 18th for some practical meditation!

Until then,

Make it a great week of (moral and ethical) thinking!

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo courtesy of Andrea A Owan

Mover and Shaker in Human History Worldview—Karl Marx

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary lists a variety of definitions for philosophy, depending on what you’re referencing. For our purposes, it lists three definitions:

  1. pursuit of wisdom
  2. 2. a search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculativerather than observational means
  3. an analysis of the grounds of and concepts expressing fundamental beliefs

 

After reading those definitions, my first question is: What is wisdom? How is that defined?

So, I headed over to wisdom and found several definitions.

  1.   a: ability to discern inner qualities and relationships : insight

   b : good sense : judgment

   c : generally accepted belief

   d : accumulated philosophical or scientific learning : knowledge

2: a wise attitude, belief, or course of action

3: the teachings of the ancient wise men

 

After thinking about these defintions, I came to the conclusion that philosophers—for the most part, although some venture into the testable and observable realm—are people who seek to understand inner qualities and relationships through a search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative means. (The chiefly speculative means grabs my attention. Why? Because I don’t think we need to speculate. But we’ll venture into that discussion in a future post!)

They also analyze the grounds of and concepts expressing fundamental beliefs. And many of them are quick to dismiss some of those grounds and concepts and replace them with their own theories and beliefs about people’s behaviors and attitudes, and how to make the thoughts and behaviors right.

 

The term philosophy was first used by Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician and philosopher who invented the famous Pythagorean mathematical theorem. He also founded the Pythagoreanism movement. Interestingly, people considered it a religion. Pythagoras believed in the divinity and immortality of the soul, which—on Earth—is imprisoned in a human form. (We started to discuss that belief in last Friday’s discussion about the soul.)

 

20th Century Philosophy—

The 20th Century saw a development of a large number of new philosophy schools. Many of them came and quickly vaporized. Some are still being practiced and clung to. thefamouspeople.com site contains a litany of people regarded as modern philosophers. I stopped counting at 147.

thebestschools.org lists their top 50 most influential living philosophers. Reading through their overviews is enough to make your eyes cross and your head ache.

But it’s educational, and eye opening. A cursory read of some of these philosophers’ beliefs gives you tremendous insight into what and how much of our society thinks in 2018; and how political beliefs fall into the field of social science.

And as I’m reading these most influential thinkers, I’m thinking, Me thinks you think too much! What a waste of time, and precious mental real estate.

You could, as these highly (and probably over-educated) people do, spend a lifetime posing questions about life and get no closer to solving the world’s human condition. While some of their thinking and work seem practical, much of it sounds, well, silly, and way too irrelevant for the common person.

 

Returning to the 19th Century—

But all we need to do is go back one more century to find a man who may have had one of the most profound, far-reaching and permanent influences on society.

Karl Marx.

Born in Germany in 1818, Marx wore a lot of hats—philosopher, economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, and journalist. But his most famous is the revolutionary socialist, and his fame blossomed with his writing and publishing of the Communist Manifesto. He is cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science.

One of his most famous quotes is:

 

“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people.

 

Marx obviously had pity (and disdain) for religion and the people who he labeled “religious.” (Out of curiosity, all of you religious types who feel oppressed, heartless, spiritless, and drugged, please raise your hands!)

My religious life is the polar opposite of his definition. On the contrary, I feel most oppressed by the world. And my spirit sores the most when I am thinking about and interacting with God. It is faith that brings spirit to a dying, depressed world. It is the hope in the midst of pain and suffering. It is the love given to us by the Almighty that really makes the world go round.

Another famous Marx quote is:

 

“The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.”

 

And change the world Marx did!

He and the German philosopher Friedrich Engels focused on class struggle and believed society would eventually develop from one of oppressing the bourgeois—materialistic, conventional-thinking middle class, a result of capitalism—to a socialist, classless society. And he wasn’t a fan of religion. He felt that the ruling classes primarily used it to oppress the non-ruling ones.

If you allow me to perch myself on my soapbox for a minute, it sounds a lot like the progressive ideology being touted right now. And ironically, it is the powerful and moneyed that are preaching it to the masses—the beauty, happiness, and contentment of a classless society, with them in charge! (Of course you need someone in charge, since the masses aren’t smart enough to make decisions for themselves.)

Something I find ironic is that Marx seemed to abhor the idea of the state controlling the masses, snooping into people’s lives and trying to control them, contrary ideas, beliefs and writings being perused and punished. Because that’s exactly what modern Communism does.

Marxism is a philosophy that won’t die. It keeps being re-fashioned and renamed for the next generation. Keep your eyes and ears open for Marxist ideas being spread in the press, and by politicians, policy makers, and social scientists.

 

Homework:

Take a few minutes to Google how many socialist countries there were at the beginning of the 1800’s. Then fast forward to today. What kind of influence has Marxism had on the world?

And what kind of effect has it had on the people in the countries where it has become the political rule of law?

For deeper thought—

How do you think you would function under a Communist government? Would you be better or worse off? What rights that you now enjoy would you probably lose? (This might require some research, but it will be worth the effort.)

“Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (Romans 12:2, The Message).

 

NEXT WEEK: Real-time philosophy, and meditating on the miraculous

 Until then,

Happy thinking!

Andrea

 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2, NIV).

Are You Mostly Body or Mostly Spirit? Part 1

I am not a human being on a spiritual journey,

I am a spiritual being on a human journey.

 

While studying my Camino de Santiago guidebook by John Brierly (the one I’m using as my primary guide for the pilgrimage the engineer and I will soon embark on), I came upon the above quote, about not being a human being on a spiritual journey but a spiritual being on a human journey.

 

Profound?

It sure sounded deep, spiritual, enlightening, and inspirational when I read it. But then I really started thinking about it, and I came to the conclusion that I don’t fully agree with it.

The quote is a paraphrased and personalized spiritual maxim based on a quote attributed to both Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and G. I. Gurdeiff. Well-known author Wayne Dyer popularized it and evidently uses it in his presentations. It can be considered a paraphrase of the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s dictum that matter is spirit fallen into a state of self-otherness.

 

True, or false?

You can find a lot of psychoanalytic assessment and articles online on the idea of “otherness,” but a rough definition would be to say that it is a state of being different and alien to the self.

And that’s what hangs me up about this saying and causes me to ask myself the following questions:

  1. Am I mostly human, or mostly spirit?
  2. Is my human form less important than my spirit?
  3. Does my soul feel alien to my physical self, and vice versa?
  4. What’s God’s opinion about this view?

 

A few of my conclusions—

  1. Being mostly spirit sounds Gnostic to me.

(We’ll be covering Gnosticism in a future Meditation Monday post.) Gnostics are heavy on spirit and having an “inward knowing.”

  1. God created us to be both spirit and bodies.

And when He originally created humans, He intended for them to live forever, in perfect bodies that didn’t wear down, break down, get sick, or die. The ugly—sinful degradation part—came at the fall. So the original intent seemed to be a nice balance of both body and spirit.

  1. Body and Spirit are equally important.

Since Scripture says we’ll eventually have new bodies in which to house our incorruptible spirits (after death and our resurrection), it seems as though both body and spirit are important to Him—now and later.

  1. Do I have a healthy balance with both?

It seems to me that, in order to live the fullest and most fruitful life, you need to have a healthy opinion toward both your body and soul.

 

Food for thought—

Throughout the summer we’ll be exploring this body versus spirit idea more carefully. But for this weekend, I invite you to mediate on the following questions:

  1. What is your opinion about this spiritual maxim, or philosophical view?
  2. In your life, do you focus more on your physical body or your spirit?
  3. Are your decisions driven more by your physical needs than your spiritual ones?
  4. Which do you believe you need more work on—your body or your spirit? Or do you feel you are living a life in balance, so both the body and spirit are growing and bearing fruit?

 

Until next week,

Happy journeying, with both body and soul!

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo courtesy of Andrea A. Owan