Whole...In Spite of Our Holes...

Holes!  When I close my eyes, as I am doing right now, I picture a variety of holes that I am acquainted with!  I picture that great hole in the street, called a "sink hole," where a bus just fell into.  Honest...it was on the news a few days ago!  Those holes are to be avoided!  I think of holes in the desert which I have been told are homes to various desert inhabitants...even snakes.  I do not examine these holes, because I do not like snakes.

There are teeny-tiny holes in the sand on our beach made by the little sand crabs that evade us by escaping into their holes.  There are holes in Swiss Cheese that I am told are supposed to be there due to the process of aging.  I have seen holes in my mother's bread which occurred either in the raising process or the baking process...I forget which.

Though I have never seen a "black hole" (see the above photo), I have enough faith in Science and the process of discovery that I believe they are there.  A few years ago, I had to have brain surgery to remove a rather large head bleed and now I have 2 extra holes in my head.  One is about the size of a  quarter and the other one about the size of a pencil's circumference.  Apparently, I did need "another hole in my head!"  I am also sporting a few more holes in my skin as the result of Skin Cancer surgeries.  That is the result of my love of the sun in good old Sunny Southern Californiaa where I grew up.

Throughout my life, through the process of experience, I have acquired some holes in my very existence.  There are holes in my heart from the losses of some of the most important people in my life; and there are holes in my Spiritual Path because of some of my life's choices.

I remember two very vivid things that happened to me as a child.  One was the umpteenth time I tripped and fell, scraping my hands until they stung so bad, tearing a hole in my jeans and creating a huge cavern in my knee.  Like the many other times I had stumbled and fallen, I ran home to the comfort of the only person I knew who could calm me down and fix the hurts...my Mother.  I knew I could count on her to "fix things!"  She always did!  Like the time I stepped on a nail which was still attached to a board.  It went clear through my foot!  I pulled my foot off the nail and the board, limped home, sporting a hole clean through my foot and there was my mother ready to soak my foot in Epsom Salts and bandage the wound.  She was there for my knee, as well.  She washed my hands and scrubbed my knee (I objected loudly!)  Mom always dressed our wounds with something called "Oil 'O Sol," which I swear smelled much like the Melaleuca Oik that I use today!  Hmmm.

I had to tell about my mother's role in healing my wounds, because I think it is a metaphor for how I have managed to heal the other holes in my life.  Those that injure the heart, soul, spirit and psyche, need a higher power to help heal them.  I was having a conversation with my daughter, Heather, the other day and she made a comment that started my wheels turning and thus the inspiration for this writing.  I had said to her: "I have a couple of holes in my life that I wish had never happened..."  Her reply to me (and I have her permission to quote her) was this: "We all have holes mama!...I think it's what we do in spite of those holes, that makes us whole."  Wow!  Whole, in spite of our holes.

My relationship with my mother was important.  My faith in her led to my healthy relationship with my Heavenly Father and Huis Son, Jesus Christ.  Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we are promised wholeness...our holes will disappear...when we display Godly sorrow and repent.  I am so grateful for that cleansing process in my life.