Thank you for joining us! Before we begin our devotional, I wanted to share a Comment Highlight from last week:
On our discussion thread we had two lovely stories in regards to God’s unexpected providence. Caitlin shared this with us:
“Just this week my neighbor offered to mow the field around my house after our mower choked. It was unexpected, necessary, and blessing.”
Isn’t it amazing how these things happen? Thank you for sharing, Caitlin! Caitlin H. Mallery runs an inspiring a beautifully-curated Substack called Caitlin Chats! Check it out!
If you want to be featured in next week’s Comment Highlight, all you have to do is post a comment on any of this week’s posts or threads. That’s it!
ONE LAST THING…
This Friday, the July Issue of The Wildroot Parables will be available for our paid subscribers only, packed full of original seasonal prayer-poetry that you can’t find anywhere else! For more information about paid subscriptions, click here.
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Now, on with this week’s devotional…
my fingers smell like dandelions honey-warm and slightly bitter; my basket fills with yellow blooms; a weed, they say. a nuisance. but what nuisance is it to stand in the open air and pluck wellness from the ground? what nuisance is it to listen to birdsong and wind while I am about my task? these yellow petals will be more miracle than nuisance when they add sunshine to winter's teacup; a bee takes interest in the bloom I've reached for; I excuse myself, and move along to another flower; after all: there's plenty to go around.
There was a time when no matter who you were—pagan or Christian—you had to gather your medicine cabinet from the earth if you wanted to have a stocked larder before winter set in. And June was traditionally the best time to do so.
Herbal medicine is often considered fringe science nowadays, or “alternative” medicine. But it used to be the only medicine around, and is the basis for much of what we now think of as modern healing. There’s nothing magical or fringe about it, really; plants contain healing properties. It’s chemistry.
In fact, it’s holy Providence at its most basic.
But the chemistry of plant medicine is a bit more complicated than popping a pill. Plants need to be treated and stored correctly, dosed properly, and combined with care. They also require patience. It’s true that herbal medicine is often not ideal for emergency situations, as the compounds of plants need time to work their way through our body’s systems. Herbal medicine shines in upholding, supporting, and nourishing us over time. Modern medicine is best for a crisis, for a fast solution to a serious problem.
We need both types of healing to be fully well. It’s a balance. And to me, the balance of old herbal medicines and modern medicine has a spiritual component, too. Sometimes our relationship with God is acute, fast-acting. It’s the verse that shows up at just the right moment. The friend who gives us the support we didn’t even realize we needed. The sudden victory, the surprise miracle. It’s the proverbial “shot in the arm” we all sometimes require.
But sometimes—most times, I find—the relationship with our God is slow, steady, and deeply nourishing. It is, from the outside, unremarkable. But it’s grounded, as natural as breathing, and takes time to seep into our very bones.
Sometimes it can feel like that kind of “medicine” isn’t really doing anything for us. But then, all of a sudden, we realize that we’re better than we were before. More content. More fulfilled.
One day, we look up and realize that our journey through our humdrum days was accompanied by birdsong and the buzzing of bees, and we realize that He was there, healing us quietly, all along.
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Full disclosure…I’m Sally’s husband and YES I married up ❤️ Sally doesn’t just talk about this stuff. She lives it. She sneaks tinctures of various sorts in my smoothies, soups, teas etc. She claims they help my heart, prostate, immune system. She might be a witch. Maybe she’s poisoning me. But I trust her. I never get sick so there’s that.
Two remarkable things I’ll share here though:
Firstly, she makes a comfrey tincture using the comfrey that grows here. When I cut myself doing various things on our property (a daily occurrence) I use it and like Wolverine the cut heals overnight. Not kidding or exaggerating. Top tip: clean the cut thoroughly prior to putting the comfrey drops on it. It heals so quick while you’re sleeping that it’ll encase any remaining dirt inside the wound.
Second, I did something to my left wrist last week. So painful I could even sleep. Could grasp anything with my fingers. Iced it all the time and took Ibuprofen. Nothing helped. Sally spent hours making one of her potions with stuff from the garden. Dipped a cloth in it. Wrapped my wrist and hand while we watched a movie. Next day it had eased considerably. Second day…totally healed.
She knows what’s up 🤘
Ohhhh how I love this! Maybe my favorite of yours yet. I had never considered herbal medicine to modern medicine in connection with our relationship with God. This is such a beautiful thought. And how true! We do need both to find balance. 💛🌿