The Healing Power
of Faith
" He knew the shepherd and the Shepherd knew him"
In his splendid article A Caring Presence with regard to suffering, trusting and Healing in our lives, Fr Mario Attard concludes by saying "For those who are finding it hard to trust the Lord Jesus, let them listen and accept His invitation now: Open to Me"(cant 5.2). Those who did so, experienced healing, hope and eternal life. What is your response ?".
I cannot find the words to say how happy I am to get the opportunity to respond to this question. It concerns a very precious letter which I keep tucked into my Bible, written by my late husband, Howard, to his eye specialists in 1986.
I would like to share with readers the contents of this letter and the story which led to its being written. However, before doing so, allow me to go back in time.
In the winter of 1981 in Dublin, Howard was stricken with a very severe bout of rheumatoid arthritis. Such was the agonizing pain he endured, he was forced to sleep at night in an armchair, with his swollen hands and feet protected even from the weight of a rug. Eventually, when all efforts failed to alleviate this suffering, I decided to bring him in his wheelchair to Malta, in the hope of his being cured by the warmth of the sun.
On our way to the airport, I dashed into Easons for a book which I did not manage to get, but as I was leaving, my eye fell on a huge display of one book entitled Diet for life, written by Mary Laver and Margaret Smith and published by Pan Books in 1981. ( It is now out of print ).
Thinking it was for weight watchers, I purchased it. Imagine my surprise on the plane to Malta, when on putting on my reading glasses the small print of the sub-title-A Cookbook For Arthritics leaped from the cover. Immediately, I knew the Good Lord had put it in my hands and was, once again, in the process of working yet another miracle for Howard.
"Blessed is the one who does not
lose faith in Me"
(Luke 7:23).
And how!
Jesus, his Good Shepherd, had constantly been doing this for him since a moment in 1966 when he had made a concrete decision to trust completely in Him
(Phillipians Chapter 4, verses 6 and 19)
"Do not worry about anything"
and
"It is he who will take care of all your needs".
Some wise man has remarked - surely it must be an Irishman! - that faith can always be seen backwards, but the problem is, we have to live it forwards! With such a thought in mind, I wrote in the flyleaf of that book "April 14, 1981. A miracle begins. "For with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1-37)"
I do not have to tell you, that exactly 16 months later, with the help of that acid-free diet, which he stuck to assiduously, he was cured, and able to walk five miles daily for the rest of his very happy life.
To get back to that letter which he wrote to his eye specialist, we come to 1986 when Gustav, a professor from Sarajevo and his associate Paul, from Malta, had to break the dreadful news to him that he was going completely blind. This was a deadly blow as he was an archaeologist, author and illustrator and spent the day working at his desk.
At first, he was totally shattered, but his Good Shepherd came quickly to the rescue. Reading the words of the prophet Habakkuk, he visibly relaxed: "Even though the fig trees are all destroyed, and there is neither blossom left nor fruit and the olive crops fail, and the fields lie barren, even if the flocks die in the fields and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be happy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and he will give me the speed of a deer and bring me safely over the mountain" (Habakkuk 17).
He repeated it over and over, questioning, sifting, teasing and savouring its depth and veracity and eventually, he took the plunge.
Picking up his pen he wrote to his specialists: "I was absolutely shattered on hearing this dreadfull news...I was sunk in depression for two days...but now this depression has totally lifted because I have decided to place all my trust in my Good Shepherd and I am perfectly convinced that
"I will not go blind."
That letter was written in 1986 and he died of a stroke nine years later
While reading his Bible.
The marble slab in the little churchyard of Burmarrad, near St Pauls Bay, bears the following inscription:
"He knew the Shepherd and the
Shepherd knew him".
The now late Gustav, then ankle-deep in his 70s, admitted that "God was God" and cast aside a plethora of doubts which he had harboured for more than seven decades.
An Irish nun, Sr Briege McKenna OSC, with Henry Liberasal (1987) affirms what I say in her best seller,
Miracles Do Happen
and as the poet Tennyson so aptly puts it:
"More things are wrought by prayer than
this world dreams of "
and what greater and wiser prayer than to trust completely in the promises of God,
For with him nothing is impossible.
"A man who loves no longer needs to protect himself against anyone, since he already contemplates the face of God." Carlo Carretto.
"You really enter upon the way of Faith only when you renounce mere human reasoning and mere human feeling. If you would understand and see as God does, you must be willing to die to the merely human".
Michel Quoist.
Courage !
Like Peter, we too have often set out confidently across the waters of life.
However, as soon as the winds of trouble rise against us, and the waves of adversity begin to buffet us, we lose our nerves and begin to sink.
Lord, when our faith falters, as it often does, may we hear your gentle voice saying to us :
COURAGE !
DO NOT BE AFRAID !
In that moment, Lord, may your divine power uphold us, calm our fears, steady our nerves, and enable us to steer our little boat to a place of safety and peace, beyond the wind and the waves".
'You have believed, so it will be done for you, and his servant was healed that same hour. (Matthew 8:13).
You can never please God without faith, without depending on Him. (Hebrews 11-6 ).
Diet Sheet made simple.
What you MAY eat.
All fish.
Chicken, turkey, rabbit.
margarine, vegetable oil, olive oil.
peaches, pears, apricots, strawberries, grapes and bananas.
olives, cabbage, celery, parsley, cauliflower, carrots, brussels sprouts, leeks, potatoes, onions, garlic, beans, aubergines, artichokes, beetroot, endive, lettuce spinach.
All cereals, corn on the cob, brown rice, nuts, bread.
weak tea.
What you may NOT eat.
beef, mutton, pork, ham.
(ALL RED MEAT).
ORANGES, LEMONS, GRAPEFRUIT, LIMES, APPLES, TOMATOES, CUCUMBER.
PEPPER, SALT (EXCEPT IN COOKING), VINEGAR,
SUGAR, HONEY, JAMS, CHOCOLATE, SWEETS, MILK PUDDINGS.
ALL ALCOHOLIC DRINKS, WINE, ALL SOFT DRINKS.
ALL TINNED FOODS,
ROASTED NUTS,
COFFEE, BOVRIL.
TAKE DAILY SIX CAPSULES OF COD-LIVER OIL.
It is almost impossible to find a sufferer who will stick assiduously to this
diet but the result is truly spectacular for the fortunate folk who do. God put the book in my hand. I was cured of arthritis in my arm in 12 weeks on this diet and have, since then, resumed eating a normal diet. Praise God !
Stricter form of the diet for very severe cases.
What you may eat.
All vegetables, including avocados.
Bread, flour to which nothing listed under
'What you may not eat'
has been added.
Rice of all kinds : brown, white, wild.
Soya bean products.
Sunflower seeds.
nuts,
Honey,
Egg whites,
Margarine, free from milk solids,
All seafoods.
Vegetable oil, particularly safflower and corn
Tea and coffee
Plain soda water,
Parsley, onions, garlic, bayleaf , and other herbs.
Salt,Sugar.
What you may eat occasionally.
Breast of chicken.
chicken broth.
A small amt. of wine in cooking.
a small rye whiskey.
a small pinch of seasoning such as curry powder.
Noodles or spaghetti
crispbreads without milk solids and additives.
What you may NOT eat.
Meat in any form, including broth.
fruit of any kind including tomatoes.
Dairy produce including eggyolks, milk,cheese, yoghurt.
Vinegar or any other acid
Pepper definitely
chocolate
dry roasted nuts
Alcoholic beverages
soft drinks (unless without additives).
If you pay the requisite attention to this diet you will have success, God willing, and the avoidance of some of the forbidden items will further enhance your lifestyle.
Howard Kilbride-Jones,
Ph.D., M.R.I.A., F.S.A.
Howard Kilbride-Jones was born in England, of Scottish parents, in 1907, and spent his school-days in India. While studying engineering in London from 1925-9, he attended extramural classes in anthroplogy at the University of London under Sir Arthur Keith. He then turned his attention to archaeology and studied at Edinburgh University under Gordon Childe from 1931-3, and dug with Mortimer Wheeler at Farnham, Dorset, in 1934. Against a background of these diverse interests, and a youthful indulgence in rally driving, Kilbride-Jones' career first focused on archaeology, and in 1934 he was appointed director of excavations for Aberdeenshire and Orkney, which involved fieldwork on important prehistoric monuments in the area. His major research was on zoomorphic brooches of the late-second to the early-sixth centuries, starting with publication of the Scottish examples in 1934-5, followed in 1937 by a comprehensive paper, `The evolution of penannular brooches with zoomorphic terminals in Great Britain and Ireland' in Irish Archaeology, vol. III, published by the Royal Irish Academy. Soon after this, in 1938, no doubt influenced by financial considerations, Kilbride-Jones switched back to engineering and went to Ireland as a manufacturer's agent for electronics. But his archaeological talent was not allowed to wither, and he excavated several important megalithic tombs and other prehistoric field monuments, including Drimnagh (1938), Lugg (1939) and Kilmashogue (1953) all in County Dublin, and Cohaw (1976) in County Cavan. He became a member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and served for a time during the 1950s as editor of its Journal. In 1955 he was elected to the Royal Irish Academy, having become a force to be reckoned with in Irish archaeology. His monograph Zoomorphic Penannular Brooches was published by the Society of Antiquaries in the Research Report series in 1980, the same year that his Celtic Craftsmanship in Bronze appeared. At this time he visited Burlington House whenever he was in London: a romantic figure, bearded, long-haired, wearing a slouch hat and a gold earing he reminded one of Augustus John, but was essentially his own slightly eccentric, charming self. Sadly, Kilbride-Jones' health began to fail in the damp Irish climate and his doctors gave him only a year or two to live. Severe rheumatoid arthritis restricted his activities to such an extent that he was wheeled on to the plane by his wife Anita for what they thought would be a last holiday in Malta. The warm, dry climate suited him and, much as he hated leaving his beloved Ireland (he had even acquired an Irish accent), he decided to settle in Malta with his family in an old house overlooking Saint Paul's Bay. He recovered his mobility and was an entertaining host to his many visitors; he researched the area archaeologically, painted pictures and wrote regular, graphic letters to the General Secretary on every conceivable topic. He died on 15 August 1995, while reading his Bible before going to bed.
"A star danced and, under it
Howard
was born."
ANITA KILBRIDE-JONES,
St Paul's Bay, Malta.
Dr. Howard E. Kilbride-Jones
Ar deis De go raib a anam uasal
