What's Healing?

The other day I was hired to play at Shaw's Supermarket (for a Grand Opening) of all places. Many people were surprised, but very pleased, to see someone (me) playing live music after they'd pushed a shopping cart into the store. A lot of comments were along these lines: "As soon as I came in, I wondered where that music was coming from. It didn't sound like Muzak."

One little red-headed boy, sitting in the shopping cart his mother was pushing, couldn't take his eyes off me. I'd just started playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and the look on his face made me think "this kid knows something I don't!" The look was a combination of love and awe. While I kept playing, he kept looking at me with reverence and a kind of joy. I'd never seen anyone that young with that kind of look on his face. While his mother took her time picking out what she needed in the area I was playing, the little red-headed boy kept his eyes glued to me. He smiled like we both knew some great secret. When his mother pushed the cart close to me, I said her son seemed to really like music, espcially the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow. She said, "He just saw the Wizard of Oz movie for the first time a few days ago, and he loved it."

An elderly man in a motorized cart came by and asked if it was a celebration. I said, "Yes! What would you like to celebrate?" He just smiled, and I played "Let's Fall in Love." That man took the longest time to choose his onions and potatoes (did I mention I was between deli and vegetables, with fruits and desserts over to my right?) but he sure seemed to be having a good time. And I played through "Embraceable You", "As Time Goes By", and more than a few others..

One woman with her teenage daughter walked straight over as I played "Pennies from Heaven." When I'd finished, she told me "That's my favourite song!" I told her I must have known she was coming in...

Ahhh, you think I'm kidding, don't you? Now here's where healing comes in...
First, take a quick look in the dictionary for the definition of healing and the definition for curing.
Ready? We'll wait...

O.k. Curing, essentially, is removing disease. Healing, essentially, is to make whole or sound, to bring an end to conflict, to purify.
Supermarkets aren't hospitals of course. But a lot of making whole, ending conflict, and purifying have taken place before during and after a good meal. Imagine what meals could take place while feeling 'whole' as you search for the ingredients?!

The little red-headed boy had just seen one of the most magical movies ever. It must have seemed magical all over again to hear that song pop out of nowhere! (And imagine the miracle of a 4 year old brain remembering a song he'd heard for the first time only a few days ago...)

There's something different involved in healing. Curing is a search and destroy mission. Healing is more like adding ingredients to that meal (or conversation, or view, or anything you enjoy) that let's you know "hey, somebody else knows just how I feel...!"