Blog
We are not alone . . . angels encountered!
By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC When the evidence of my husband’s second cancer came to our house it was 3 o’clock in the morning. We made a fast trip to the ER, but it was jammed. He was in exceeding pain. And, his agony lasted for 12 READ MORE
Why are we here? What truly matters?
By Joy Le page Smith, MA, BCC While Gary and I were having lunch with our friend, a retired military man, we talked about a book titled Why the Universe Is the Way It Is. Having just read Hugh Ross’ book, my enthusiasm is piqued by this scientist’s findings. Our friend READ MORE
“I’m Going Home”
By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC About two decades ago, I met James[1]. He was one of my first patients in hospice. After talking a few moments, he said, “I haven’t been in church for many years. But, I was a Sunday school kid. Every Sunday, until I was READ MORE
Yes! There are gains in going with God
The majority of people on earth believe there is a God A PATIENT ONCE ASKED, "WHAT WOULD BE GAINED IF I SAID 'YES' TO GOD? Chaplain Joy Le Page READ MORE
One gigantic Gift—Anno Domini
Red heart shaped sky at sunset. Beautiful landscape with road. One gigantic Gift—Anno Domini By Joy Le Page Smith The birth of Jesus, has instigated advantages far beyond what can be quickly put into words. One “for instance,” is the way we mark time: "AD" or Anno READ MORE
Having trouble sleeping?
Most of us have experienced painful events in our life’s journey. Sometimes these are huge and stand out in our minds. We may try to suppress the occurrences. However, the subconscious mind holds considerable sway in our lives having registered these happenstances. If only we could heal this inner angst, READ MORE
Do emotions affect body chemistry and therefore our health?
By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA, Board certified chaplain Science is telling us that the brain and the organs of our bodies are closely connected. These newer revelations of medical research called psychoneuroimmunology (PNI*) clearly reveal the influence our thoughts, our emotions have on whether or not we READ MORE
Questioning God . . . an answer came
By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith Yesterday, after reading more about the war initiated by Russian president, Vladimir Putin, I asked God, “How should I pray about this?” The war is non-comprehensive and incalculable. I, like most people, have felt helpless to make a difference. Immediately, after saying that prayer READ MORE
Why balloons so easily reach our souls
Last Friday morning as thirty-some balloons filled the sky on my drive to work I was awestruck. I felt my heart arise with them. Then while on the job with a grieving family, I asked, “Have you gone outside to see the balloons. Immediately, the “yes” of this family showed READ MORE
Domestic Violence — does it also involve emotional abuse?
By Joy Le Page Smith This opening story of a friend is told with permission. “My husband only hit me once? And, once was enough! "That much I knew--and said, ‘If you ever hit me again, I'll take this baby (pointing to our three month old child who was sitting READ MORE
Tips for teaching children how to identify what they are feeling
By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC Dr. Gordon Mate, author of When the Body Says No, states that children who hold their emotions in rigidly are taxing their nervous systems. When the adults in their lives discourage their expressing difficult emotions, children have no other recourse than to hold READ MORE
Training for Hospital Volunteer Chaplains
Elements of an Effective Pastoral Care Encounter By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC Author of The Chaplain is In: Journal to Health and Happiness Do more listening than talking. Listen in a new way: listen with the heart. (I pray inwardly as I listen.) Sense where the person READ MORE
The ins-and-outs of setting boundaries: with yourself, yes, but also with others
By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC Someone once said, "If it feels like a kick in the stomach, it's probably a kick in the stomach.” That is true. Yet, you can mentally block the kick as adroitly as one practicing the martial art of Aikido. Once you get the READ MORE
All God’s creatures . . .
One evening as Gary and I were sitting on the patio a little owl showed his presence (maybe her presence). We were pleased and started talking to the owl in low, inviting tones. With big eyes he slowly stepped toward us, stopping every few steps. We kept sending “sweet nothings” READ MORE
A lollipop?
Last Sunday First Communion was celebrated at church. We watched as these little darlings were called up to the altar, two girls and two boys. The children were dressed “to the tee,” with the little girls wearing beautiful white gowns. They were followed to the altar by parents and grandparents. READ MORE
What is the purpose of life?
We arrive on earth as a small tenuous life force. We grow, develop and learn. We experience. We laugh. We cry. And, eventually we die. How long we get to be here is undeterminable which makes life all the more valuable. It is a mystery, one we cannot solve on READ MORE
Is there life after death?
Who has ever lived without this question arising from one’s consciousness from time to time? This little story titled, “Twins in the womb” by an anonymous author that prompts further thought. One day a mother conceived twins. One child was a girl; the other a boy. Months passed, and they READ MORE
Back to School – no matter the age
School has started once again. Do you ever stop to savor those early memories—especially from grade school—noticing again the ones that make you smile, and those that still bring a twinge of pain? My most vivid school memory, while in the third grade, has nothing to do with what happened READ MORE
Prayer, a wondrous mystery
By Joy Le Page Smith, M.A., BCC www.healinglifespain.com While attempting to learn more about prayer, I have made a concerted effort to draw from others their perceptions of prayer. I am receiving three types of comments: 1) those claiming prayer to be a challenging, yet rewarding experience; 2) those stating READ MORE
Let’s face it
By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC wwww.healinglifespain.com It took this pandemic for us to get a grasp of what it means to see a full face. Clearly, we know half-a-face is not enough. We feel cheated in only seeing the eyes of the person coming toward us. When READ MORE
What Bangs your Shutters?
By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC We want extraordinary things to happen in life. Sometimes these come through a quick story or a timely joke. Truth be known, when our emotions move into that sweet range of joy, hope, even surprise it changes our body chemistry. For READ MORE
Salty people—our unsung heroes?
While working in a big city, a good option came for taking a bus. This bus was crowded. I observed a well-dressed woman who I would guess to be between 40 and 50 years old. She also stood, along with many of us, for several miles on this overcrowded bus. READ MORE
Being free and fully ‘me’
Have you ever felt there were invisible boundaries around you? Limits that would allow you to go so far in achievements and risk taking, but no further? I call this the “confidence barrier” and believe once we can break through we can find our full potential, while also realizing who READ MORE
Flying low and flying high
Nature speaks, when we listen. Perhaps birds can be the most frequent bearers of messages. While in Idaho, walking along a hillside, I met with an Evening Grosbeak. The breeze blew the feathers of his head straight up as he lingered on a bush. But the remarkable moments came while READ MORE
What bangs your shutters?
We want extraordinary things to happen in life. Sometimes it just takes a quick story or a joke to give us that chemical change we need. And, “yes” when our emotions move into that sweet range of joy, hope, even surprise (which excites us) our physiology changes.[1] The other READ MORE
Do we have to ‘see’ to believe?
I have thought myself to be a woman of faith. But in some situations anxiety has been a frequent companion. In those instances, my mind never seems to stop its efforts to “work it out,” meaning, I feel sure I can do something that will be more helpful, thus put READ MORE
Faith can change a child’s life
Some individuals have never known or attempted to understand how God can help them in their lives. I’ve known those who haven’t even tried to find out. Recently, a friend came to me after church and said, “Sometime, let’s talk. I have something to share with you. It’s about what READ MORE
‘Even the smallest words’ hold great power
Words heard as a girl changed my life. I was eight years old, when I first went away to summer girl’s camp in Mc Call, Idaho. It was a Quaker girl’s camp with a tabernacle made of logs and a sawdust floor. We girls had great times of swimming in READ MORE
Broken, but beautiful
The Japanese art form called Kintsugi is one in which “the breaks and repairs of a vessel are treated as a part of the object’s history.” The artist uses a mixture of resin infused with powdered gold to repair a piece, resulting in far greater beauty. Often in life wounds READ MORE
We had best speak up!
Could it be we are on very dangerous ground with God—at least on a slippery slope? Wherever a pregnant woman is mentioned in the Bible, she is spoken of as being “with child.” Isaiah 49:1, gives a word picture for this, “The Lord called me from the womb, from the READ MORE
The ‘Setting’ of the Soul
A showcase of opals lay before my eyes—any one of them could be mine. My father stood watching as I studied them. After Dad retired he learned, through a lapidary shop in Scottsdale how to cut, polish and facet stones. And, here was Dad’s treasure stash, fresh work of his READ MORE
‘I’m going home!’
About two decades ago, I met James[1]. He was one of my first patients in hospice. After talking a few moments, he said, “I haven’t been in church for many years. But, I was a Sunday school kid. Every Sunday, until I was a teenager, I was happy to go READ MORE
Living Ready
I learned to “live ready” very early in life due to having a tendency to form blood clots in my legs and abdomen. From age 18, these would travel periodically into my heart and lungs, bringing me close to death. There were also many hospital stays as my intestines seemed READ MORE
A portrait of the Father–the one who created us
How do we come to know God who is Father and Creator of all? The One who’s vocalized words we have yet to hear? This One who we have never seen? One whose hand we’ve never touched? A little story told by a friend bears a poignant point. A man, READ MORE
Is ‘belonging’ something to seek?
Is ‘belonging’ something to seek? Two appaloosa colts ran about ever so carefree in my father’s pasture. They were beautiful and Dad seemed to have done a good job with them. I recall, here, what my father said back then, while still alive and working in his corral: “You know READ MORE
Good Friday’s impact on life
With Easter on my mind I reminisce of a Good Friday of yesteryears, while Gary and I were raising three children on a tight budget. “Gary the Great” as I sometimes call him is speaking to our household of five. “We need to tighten the belt, here.” Belt? His words READ MORE
The crux of the Cross
I was a high school student the day I met Jaylyn, a young woman that I will remember forever. I only encountered this person on one occasion. The three of us who were visiting had less than an hour with Jaylyn that day, yet, she became an unforgettable person in READ MORE
The soul: Earth’s richest resource
On an early Sunday morning, while away from home, I pondered with awe the beauty throughout the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Many things spoke of the Power and Presence of God. The hardness of marble altars, stone floors and wooden pews spoke READ MORE
Just in case . . .
Many years back, before becoming a chaplain, a friend called saying, “I have end stage carcinoma.” My heart went out to her. Following prayers said for her healing, she assured me, “I want to go.” She was in her 50’s; somehow, I held my tongue. Carol explored various religions, yet READ MORE
Can you relate?
An exasperating experience happened last week while working with an offshore tech about a software problem. Upon calling for help, the cue was looping; I couldn’t get a person. Then upon reaching one, he could not find my account. Forty-five minutes had passed! People talk about “losing their religion. “Rankled, READ MORE
Is this our biggest challenge?
For decades ours has been a “death denial society.” We pretend death isn’t viable for us. It’s “Out of sight, out of mind.” We live on the edge of denial, with death seeming to be something that happens to others. Attending funerals can present elements of inner angst that some READ MORE
A little trip to the ditch . . .
When our son, Ted, was six years old, he was intrigued with the Bible story of Peter walking on water. With childlike faith he headed for the irrigation ditch to give it a try. But born in the space-age Ted knew something about backup systems. He wore his galoshes. When READ MORE
Suicide—what can we say?
By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC Years back Gary and I hired a man with great tree expertise to trim the trees about our home. We chatted frequently and he became a friend while beautifying our trees. He told of his “past life” as an executive with an READ MORE
Questions a chaplain encounters
By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC Sometimes within my work as a chaplain there is as much humor as there is sadness. Some questions are expected, yet others can pin my soul right to the wall. For some my visit is a time when, in different ways and READ MORE
“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away . . .”
Freedom By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC Last March when the Mount Olive Lutheran Church Men's Workmen Team said “yes” to building an altar for the chapel of Havasu Regional Medical Center, I was overjoyed. Through the years of serving as a volunteer duty chaplain at the READ MORE
Help With Granting Forgiveness
Why do the work it takes to forgive? We begin to feel better, as we have less emotional pain to manage in our daily lives. Our relationships have potential to change. We physically release the toxicity that builds up in our cells due to emotional anguish. Hurt, sadness, fear, anger, READ MORE
Do dreams speak truth to us?
By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC Spiritual Mentor When a person desires to relate with God, a number of things happen. For one, guidance comes–and this is where the very depths of that person’s being can be affected. Sometimes, a message will come mystically allowing for what READ MORE
Teaching children to value feelings
By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC Dr. Gordon Mate, author of When the Body Says No, states that children who hold their emotions in rigidly are taxing their nervous systems. When the adults in their lives discourage their expressing difficult emotions, children have no other recourse than to hold READ MORE
Inner Healing Exercise
By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC This is an exercise that has really helped me. It is amazing help when emotional pain is great within this experience of life. For best results, lie down (or sit quietly) envisioning the entirety of your torso covered by a huge sponge. READ MORE
Tears: How they help the body heal, as well as the soul
By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, Board certified chaplain It is said, “Healing the soul is like peeling an onion.” This is true. The layers of pain, resentment, bitterness, and sorrow come off one by one. No matter how many conferences attended and books read in hopes of getting more READ MORE
A new idea . . . Please tell me what you think
It has been a privilege to write this column weekly for the past two years. However, I can no longer dependably write, as I have taken a position at the hospital in which the majority of my "thought life” is "on the job.” I have treasured the encouraging comments you wrote READ MORE
Is there an unforgiveable sin?
By Joy Le Page Smith, MA, BCC Phil, 14 was just a kid. He was quiet, polite and a good student. No one could know what was ahead or how he would change lives—until the day the call came. “Hello, Joy. Have you heard about Janet?” “What do you mean?” READ MORE
Have I commited the unforgiveable sin?
Scripture indicates there is an unforgiveable sin. But, only one. Mark 3:28-29, “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He READ MORE
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