Help in Tragic Times

       This Sunday, as I looked out over the congregation at church, almost three quarters of the congregation was dressed in either grey or black.  It was shocking to see how deeply the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary penetrated, even if subconsciously. We pray, we send money, but it feels so futile.
        This devastating feeling, like so many other things, changed when I learned reiki.  In reiki level II, we learn to send reiki over a distance to a person, a place, or even a time.  Sending healing energy to a disaster can be quite empowering.  In last Wednesdays post, I talked about how sending reiki can even change your physiology.

       I've done this many times since I first was attuned, but sometimes it gets interesting.  The Fukushima nuclear disaster really hit me personally.  I have strong ties to Japan and Japanese culture through travel and friends.  Many of my Japanese friends had returned home before the tsunami and I couldn't stop worrying about them.  It was time to do something proactive.
       Each morning when I went out on my walk, I would send energy to a general, vague "those poor people suffering and working to fix Japan."  My worry obscured clarity.  So I would send reiki for the hour or so that I was out and about and return home feeling able to set about my day.
        What was interesting over time is how the recipient became more and more clear.  At first it felt like rain, sprinkling over the tsunami victims.  Not necessarily effective, but just the act of giving reiki made me feel better.  As the days and walks progressed, I began to get a feeling of who I was to.  At first it was just a general sense of where, to the north and east in Japan.  Later that it was near Fukushima, but not in the reactor.  By the end it had narrowed down to a specific male aid worker.  I felt, not only at peace, but also like I had made a difference.
         I urge you to experience the peace of praying and sending reiki to the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary, their families, and the entire community.

Sending energy to a disaster area, my experience with the Fukashima earthquake and now to Sandy Hook Elementary