Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Good Letters

Home
Catholic

healing

Select a Category A. G. Harmon Alissa Wilkinson Allison Backous Art Authors Brad Fruhauff Bradford Winters Bryan Bliss Caroline Langston Chad Thomas Johnston Chris Hoke Christiana N. Peterson Culture D.G. Myers D.L. Mayfield Daniel Bowman Jr. David Griffith Elizabeth Duffy Faith Film Greg Wolfe Guest Contributor Interview Jan Vallone Jeffrey Overstreet Jessica Eddings-Roeser Jessica Mesman Griffith Kelly Foster Lindsey Crittenden Morgan Meis music Natalie Vestin Nick Olson Peggy Rosenthal Personal Reflection Poetry Friday Reflection Relationships Review Richard Chess Richard Cole Sara Zarr Shannon Huffman Polson Sonya Bilocerkowycz Tania Runyan Tony Woodlief Topical Categories Uncategorized Vic Sizemore Writing

Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 February 2008

March 2018

March 15, 2018

Haunted by Phantom Limbs

One such patient, under my care, describes how he must “wake up” his phantom in...

August 2017

August 01, 2017

Our Lady of Czestochowa

Before a metastasizing cancer had fully whittled away her quality of life, my mother left...

June 2017

June 08, 2017

Thine is the Transkingdom

Jasmine Temple, laboratory technician at New York University Lagone Medical Center, Institute for Systems Genetics,...

April 2016

April 21, 2016

Flying into Fear, Part 2

Read Part 1 here. My fear of flying made every flight I took an exhausting...

March 2016

March 25, 2016

Poetry Friday: “Divine Wrath” by Adélia Prado

Multiple members of my family live with chronic pain, which is why I’m always arrested...

March 18, 2016

Dancing on the Way to Prison

By John Bryant I’m standing in a circle with thirty singing and swaying old men...

October 2015

October 14, 2015

Driving the Dark Roads

The other day I got an email from a high-school boyfriend, which drove me headlong...

September 2015

September 21, 2015

Let Me Die Like This

When I die, Lord, let me go in a plane crash, spiraling down, earthward, earthward,...

August 2015

August 28, 2015

When It Comes to Love, We’re Beginners

By Jeffrey Overstreet During a lecture last March [2011], I spoke fondly of a friend...

July 2015

July 09, 2015

Art on Fire: The Life and Work of Melissa Weinman, Part 2

By Richard Cole Continued from yesterday. When Weinman completed her fellowship in Europe, she came...

June 2015

June 15, 2015

His Murderer and His Keeper

Some days I can’t remember: Am I Abel or Cain? Blackberry soda in the afternoon...

May 2015

May 29, 2015

Triple Scoop

By Jessica Mesman Griffith My best friend died suddenly almost two years ago. She’d lived...

May 22, 2015

The Two Lists

Seven-year old Isaiah found a small desk in the back of our garage and claimed...

May 18, 2015

In the Marrow of Depression and Anxiety

By the time you read this, I’ll be feeling much better. Therapy will have commenced,...

May 08, 2015

Sugar, Sugar, Part 2: May 8, 2015

Continued from yesterday. When the editors of Good Letters first asked if they could rerun...

May 07, 2015

Sugar, Sugar, Part 1: June 10, 2011

I’ve written before about my father’s alcoholism. From my adolescence until his death, I spent...

April 2015

April 23, 2015

Fever

By Dyana Herron When well, it’s easy to forget how utterly miserable it feels to...

March 2015

March 25, 2015

Monasticism in Lockdown America, Part 6: Icons

The jail staff asked if I would meet with some of the guys in the...

March 23, 2015

The Healing Art: Doctors Prescribing Poems

My hematologist, who has monitored my leukemia for the past ten years, copied me into...

February 2015

February 23, 2015

The Tenth Leper

Guest post by Kelly Foster If you grow up in the South, you learn to...

February 13, 2015

Monasticism In Lockdown America, Part 5: Holy Elders

With their white beards and deep lines in their faces, the older men stand out...

January 2015

January 12, 2015

Monasticism In Lockdown America, Part 4: Asceticism

Today’s post continues a monthly series on my experiences introducing monastic practices to those I...

January 08, 2015

Girl Meets God in the Classroom, Part 2

Continued from yesterday. On the first day of my class “Spiritual Autobiographies: Theirs and Ours,”...

January 05, 2015

#BlackLivesMatter to Poets

Poets are rising to the cause, hands raised ("Don't shoot!") but hands also holding pencils...

October 2014

October 14, 2014

The Iron Cross: An Observation from the Way of Saint James, Part 2

Continued from yesterday. The Way of Saint James—El Camino de Santiago—is a pilgrimage that began...

October 13, 2014

The Iron Cross: An Observation from the Way of Saint James, Part 1

I didn’t know Julia well. The first time I saw her, she was sitting at...

June 2014

June 06, 2014

A Jew Prays in Venice, Part 2

Continued from yesterday. On the pleasant train ride from Florence to Venice, my wife Laurie...

December 2013

December 20, 2013

Blue Christmas

A few years ago, I learned about a church—an Evangelical Free Church—that holds an annual...

October 2013

October 04, 2013

Sarah Masen: The Trying Mark, Part 2

Guest Post By Angela Doll Carlson In yesterday’s interview with Sarah Masen, we chatted about...

July 2013

July 31, 2013

Cutting Away the Noise

Fifteen years ago, there was no end to the noise. It took a cutting to...