A Good Book to Read/God's Hotel
I read a book while I was at the beach a few weeks ago that resonated deeply with me, and I can't stop thinking about it. I discovered it when my daughter's incoming freshman college class was assigned to read it. The book caught my eye because it was written by a doctor who was working at an Alms' House in San Francisco while researching the life of a 10th Century mystic and nun named Hildegaard Von Bingen. I had read a book about Hildegaard, and had a recording of the music she composed in the 10th Century, but I had hardly heard any other mention of her until I saw this book, so those two things combined sparked my interest in reading God's Hotel. I should add that this book, by Victoria Sweet, was published in 2013, and her experiences at this modern day Alms House took place within the last few years...
It's a fascinating read on many, many levels. I could literally go on an on, but there are a few things that stuck with me. One of which is that people, when left alone, are very very good self-organizers. And by this I mean that they naturally form good, healthy, caring communities without a lot of outside interference and "help". And oftentimes these natural communities are very healing, because they are constructed around the individual's abilities to help and heal. It sort of reminded me of the Montessori school I sent my children to for pre school-the children, not the teachers, were responsible for the running of the school, and for helping and working with each other, without a lot of outside influence from their teachers. The teachers simply guided them-it was a healthy, productive and very busy community of 3-5 year olds. It was impressive.
And this is what I learned. People heal from the relationship they have with the doctor/healer/therapist/friend/teacher...it's the relationship that is formed that is the platform
from which healing can begin. It's the passing of information between one person to another, whether
it be sensed,or felt, or spoken ...it's the relationship of the people involved-it's the community.
And this is what makes me sad as well, as I see people reduced to numbers and demographics, and 'healthcare" becoming streamlined and cookie cutter-because that design is not a blueprint for healing. It's a blueprint for "healthcare", for numbers, for an assembly line approach to illness ...and I see it as a huge step backwards for those of us who are interested in true health and true healing.
But I think the author of God's Hotel gets this-highly recommend!
It's a fascinating read on many, many levels. I could literally go on an on, but there are a few things that stuck with me. One of which is that people, when left alone, are very very good self-organizers. And by this I mean that they naturally form good, healthy, caring communities without a lot of outside interference and "help". And oftentimes these natural communities are very healing, because they are constructed around the individual's abilities to help and heal. It sort of reminded me of the Montessori school I sent my children to for pre school-the children, not the teachers, were responsible for the running of the school, and for helping and working with each other, without a lot of outside influence from their teachers. The teachers simply guided them-it was a healthy, productive and very busy community of 3-5 year olds. It was impressive.
And this is what I learned. People heal from the relationship they have with the doctor/healer/therapist/friend/teacher...it's the relationship that is formed that is the platform
from which healing can begin. It's the passing of information between one person to another, whether
it be sensed,or felt, or spoken ...it's the relationship of the people involved-it's the community.
And this is what makes me sad as well, as I see people reduced to numbers and demographics, and 'healthcare" becoming streamlined and cookie cutter-because that design is not a blueprint for healing. It's a blueprint for "healthcare", for numbers, for an assembly line approach to illness ...and I see it as a huge step backwards for those of us who are interested in true health and true healing.
But I think the author of God's Hotel gets this-highly recommend!
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