Reiki and Manna

What do these two things have in common, Reiki, a form of healing which comes to us from Japan, and Manna, a type of food consumed by the Israelites in the desert, after they escaped from Egypt?

First of all, this Blog reflects meditation on a question that people are asking me, why don't you slow down? Aren't you worried you are going to exhaust yourself? Someone your age should take it easy!

And it is true that I have many days come to a realization that in hospice, half the patients I treat now are younger than I am - and so one would ask, what SHOULD I worry about? And it made me think of the story of the Manna in the desert. At least in the Bible as written in Hebrew, it appears that the "energy" in the Manna is not just "nourishment," it is a "food" that is spiritual and energetic as well as "material." And this food comes from Heaven and lasts only for one day - it cannot be stored or "saved for tomorrow." It appears that the lesson here differentiates between material food, grain and the like, that earlier in Genesis Joseph was able to store in warehouses, and save for the "rainy day" (or more likely in this case for the years of drought). Manna came as food that was "spiritual" in nature, and the energy needed to be consumed, more importantly, one needed to use the gift with the faith that more energy (or Manna) would come tomorrow.

So it seems to be for a Hospice worker. We are gifted with a certain amount of energy, and perhaps that is for a purpose, if we hold back and do not use that energy to assist others than it will spoil and do us no good. Holding back isn't playing it "safe" at all.

I am recurrently seeing people eager to move ahead in Reiki, attain more attunements, and accomplish more levels. And I am seeing people have concern that these leap forwards can be exhausting, and no doubt at some point clearing blocks and opening up can come with a need to rest and to integrate energies, to "rearrange the garden" if you will.

More and more for this reason I am tending to teach people over a longer period of time, and provide attunements at a point when I feel they are "really ready." There are benefits to "curriculum," and certainly standardization has its value and its place, but learning to perceive and work with "energy" is a long term commitment and an ongoing process. It seems to me more a journey than an attainment - and approached in this way I have found helping other people exhilirating, and long days rarely "exhausting."

For those who say I have a lot left to learn, I have tended to say I second that, or perhaps just a simple "thank you." In the meantime, I feel an obligation to continue to work hard and expend the spiritual energy I am gifted with "just for today." If we are doing a mission of kindness, we just need to have faith that the "Manna" will continue to fall - one day at a time.

And whether we use a curriculum, or attain a level, if we simply use the spiritual energy that is gifted us to give compassion to others, we ourselves will continue to grow.