Reiki stories - not just for today

Every so often a story has to be told, not because of a thrill of competition or attainment, but because someone worked hard, bettered himself, and dedicated his life to compassion toward other people. And twice this week I found myself telling the story of a Nurse who died slightly more than 10 years ago, Gerald Smith of Station 1 at Forest Haven Nursing Home in Catonsville. Gerald Smith was an inspiration and a presence to those he worked with, and a source of compassion and caring to his patients.

When I first met Gerald he was a nurse's aide on Station 1. Everyone knew him as a person who was calm and slow to anger, who had dreams of bettering himself, of rising above the struggles of his youth. While he worked he went to school, and eventually became an LPN. We were so proud. He came back and worked on the same unit. And he kept going to school. A few years later he had completed his RN! And a few years later he was the RN Unit manager of Station 1 at Forest Haven. A kind and gentle man.

One day he came to me and told me that he had kidney failure, and that he had decided against dialysis. Many of us tried to convince him to accept treatment, but he was adamant, and he was taken from amongst us.

Every so often I would come across a GNA of intelligence and compassion, someone who I thought could better him or herself, and I would tell the story - but - for the last few years it had slipped from my grasp. Until this past week. And twice, I met GNA's who brought Gerald to my mind, and twice I told the story again.

Today, I was visiting Seasons Hospice patients at a nursing home in northeast Baltimore - and an RN saw me, ran over and said "are you Dr Bob from Forest Haven?" I had not seen this nurse in over 10 years, since Gerald's funeral, but she recognized me clear as day.

"Do you remember Gerald Smith?" she asked. And we spent the next 20 minutes sharing recollections. She had visited him the day before he passed away. This past week, she had felt as if "his spirit had been visiting" her.

There is no logical way I can account for things like this when they occur. But on a day when billions of people all over the world were placing their hopes on matches of athletic prowess, and on a day when people all over the world were willing to fight for one cause or another, we were remembering one man who had dedicated his life to the simple values of educating and bettering himself, and using that knowledge for caring and compassion towards others.

One wonders what the world would be like, if more people were like Gerald, and if people like Gerald were recognized as the heroes. If the moment that was remembered, as something to live up to, admire and dream of, was not "the shot" or "the goal" but the caring and the compassion.

Anneli Twan quotes Barbara Brown, one of the early Reiki Masters, in her book Memories of Hawayo Takata. " The five tenets are the spiritual side of Reiki and the only spiritual matter that is discussed at any tie during a Reiki class. They are really common sense ways of managing your life without having to refer to anything deep or anything mysterious or mystic. They are very beautiful standards of living."

"Just for today, do not anger.
Just for today, do not worry.
Just for today be grateful.
Just for today, do an honest day's work.
Just for today, be kind to all living things."

Gerald Smith of Forest Haven was a person who exemplified these concepts. That's why I shared his story in my Blog.

If you come across such a person, or such a story, remember it, tell it, share it, and keep the memory alive. Not just for today.