wfn.org | [ENS] Priest with cerebral palsy speaks out on healing

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

August 26, 2004 - Thursday Thesis: Meeting People of Purpose

Priest with cerebral palsy speaks out on healing

Nancy Lane affirms a life of prayer and transformation

by Matthew Davies

[ENS] In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus defines his ministry as one of healing: 
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach 
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives 
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are 
oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)

The Rev. Nancy J. Lane, an Episcopal priest from the Diocese of Central New 
York who lives with cerebral palsy, believes wholeheartedly in this Gospel 
message and in Jesus' commitment to the healing of body and soul. In 1983 
Lane established a ministry to educate Central New York congregations to be 
more welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities. Disability 
Awareness was designed to address negative and stereotypical attitudes, 
Lane notes, and to speak to the universality of limitation, suffering, and 
difference.

"It takes great faith to live with a disability, to constantly adjust and 
readjust to the barriers imposed by our society, whether physical barriers 
or negative attitudes," Lane said. "People with disabilities often live 
marginalized lives because of discrimination, low income, and lack of 
access to the church, market place, transportation, or a fulfilling social 
life. It takes enormous faith to live with these challenges."

Lane acknowledged that people who are not welcomed and included in the life 
of a worshipping community may not have a developing and deepening 
spiritual and prayer life to support them through their difficulties. "This 
is where the real meaning of healing when living with a disability can be 
seen more clearly," she said. "Healing happens when we are welcomed, 
included, and our gifts received because we are part of the body of Christ. 
As I traveled around the country I discovered enormous suffering in people 
with and without disabilities. Much of this suffering was caused by people 
who wanted them to be 'cured' and when they were not, had been pronounced 
as evil, possessed, sinful, or lacking faith."

These were issues that Lane had encountered often and she had wrestled with 
these issues and their attendant questions in prayer, therapy and 
throughout her theological and psychological studies. "I had learned long 
ago that healing of my disability [cerebral palsy] was not what I needed or 
even wanted," she said. "Rather, I often needed healing from the negative 
attitudes and responses of others and, like most of us, needed healing from 
the hurts that life may bring to any of us."

Process of transformation

Lane's life experiences, academic studies, theological training, and long 
years of spiritual direction have convinced her that healing is a process 
of transformation and requires attention and discernment of one's spiritual 
journey to God. Her research in the study of healing, suffering, 
psychology, and theology has also reinforced her understanding of the 
Church's original purpose for confession, reconciliation and anointing in 
the healing ministry. "Each has a role in allowing us to let go of pain, 
grief, and anger that destroys body and soul," she said. "I felt more and 
more called to a ministry of healing which incorporated all these aspects."

While studying in England in 1991 Lane, who has lectured both nationally 
and internationally on a variety of subjects dealing with disability and 
suffering, read about several Christian Healing Centers in the Church of 
England which were concerned with healing of the whole person -- body, mind 
and spirit. "I visited twelve Centers in order to learn how spirituality, 
theology and psychology were integrated for use in the healing process," 
she said. "The work being done in these Centers is extraordinary and is 
based on the use of the sacraments: communion, confession, absolution, 
laying-on-of-hands, and anointing." Healing work also includes 
psychotherapy, spiritual direction, and other complementary therapies, she 
noted. "However, they have found after 50 years of work that without 
confession the majority of people do not heal."

Lane's goal is to found a Christian Healing Center with others who are 
committed to a life of prayer, transformation and healing. "People are 
hungry for healing in their lives and we know that many turn to the latest 
trend in search of spirituality and healing," she said. "We need to teach 
people about healing and spread the word about God's healing work today. It 
may be the best evangelizing tool we have."

Reflecting Jesus' healing ministry

In 1995, Lane embarked on a new mission and outreach project and founded A 
Healing Ministry, which currently provides therapy, lectures, workshops and 
retreats with counseling to clients using Jungian psychology, sacred 
psychology and prayer therapy. "Sacred psychology enables one to look at 
the wounds, betrayals, and deep holes of life and learn how to turn them 
into holy places of strength," Lane said. "Spiritual direction, healing 
prayer, anointing, and laying on of hands is available for those who 
request it with services directed toward those who are seeking healing of 
body, mind and spirit and integration."

The ministry also offers seven workshops on healing and a retreat for 
people living with disability and chronic illness. The workshops use 
psychology (understanding the power of the mind, the effects of 
consciousness and unconsciousness), theology (understanding God at work in 
people's lives), and spirituality (connection to God and self) to 
understand how healing is meant to transform lives.

Workshops on healing and spirituality explore the relationship between 
spiritual health and faith in God and physical and psychological 
well-being. "This holistic approach reflects Jesus' ministry of healing, 
which was always concerned with the whole person and their transformation," 
Lane said.

A workshop on The Christian Healing Ministry in the Church is designed for 
people wanting to learn more about the healing ministry, churches wanting 
to start a healing ministry, or churches already involved in a healing 
ministry who want further training.

A retreat for people with disabilities focuses on the theological and 
psycho-spiritual aspects of living with disability, as opposed to suffering 
from disability. Using a format of talks, discussion, story-telling, and 
worship, the dimensions of the psycho-spiritual journey when living with a 
disability are explored. These include: the cycle of grief and depression 
in disability; expressing anger at God, self and others; the meaning of 
suffering and healing in the spiritual journey, including the suffering of 
God; understanding the connection between sexuality and spirituality and 
what it means to be embodied; finding God's strength in weakness; and how 
transformation leads to healing and wholeness. The retreat also looks at 
how healing integrates disability into the totality of life. Each day 
includes a rhythm of prayer, meditation and guided visualizations.

Lane notes that Scripture clearly indicates that the church has been 
endowed with specific healing power and that the reader of the Gospels can 
readily perceive how Jesus invested a major portion of his ministry in 
healing the sick. "The Church often examines the individual healing 
miracles of Jesus without considering the theological meaning of Jesus' 
healing miracles and the ongoing significance of those acts in the life of 
the church today," she said. "The meaning of healing extends far beyond the 
symbolic action of curing the sickness. The power of healing confronts the 
powers which oppress us and witnesses to the presence of God's power at 
work in the world."

"Jesus healed," Lane added. "He touched lame legs and gave them strength. 
He reached his hand to blind eyes and gave them sight. He touched weak 
minds and restored order. He forgave sins and cast out demons setting 
people free from spiritual, emotional, and physical bondage ... Jesus 
healed both body and soul."

An outline of the workshops and further information about A Healing 
Ministry may be obtained from: http://ahealingministry.com/index.html. 
E-mail: nlane2@stny.rr.com.

--Matthew Davies is staff writer and web manager of Episcopal News Service.