Dr. Mary adjusting a baby in India
I just returned home from a 10 day mission trip to Delhi, India where myself and 25 other Chiropractors, chiropractic students and friends provided adjustments and love to over 5000 people during a four day festival put on by the Sant Nirankari Mission. I’m struggling to describe my experience as words cannot convey the impact this act of service had on my soul. Before this trip, I thought of myself as a grateful person. Now, I know what the true meanings of Service and Gratitude are and I can say that I am Living in Gratitude!
Every time a parent (who rarely spoke English and had little knowledge about what Chiropractic was) handed me their child, I felt a deep sense of gratitude. I would check the baby’s nervous system, address the concerns that the parents had (through a translator), remove any interference in the communication between the brain and their body, and give them hope when I could. I worked on kids with Muscular dystrophy, Cerebral palsy, blindness, injuries from vaccines, autism, to name a few and each time I handed those children back to their parents, I would bow my head and say “thank you.” I was grateful to be able to serve others by laying my hands on them, allowing a shift to occur in their bodies. They were grateful for the love and the healing. It was the perfect symbiotic relationship where we mutually benefited. The people we served including the volunteers, translators and organizers took such good care of us and allowed us to serve out of abundance. There were thousands of volunteers who were there to serve mankind. Some slept in big tents with one blanket, hoses as showers and still showed up smiling and ready to serve.
On one particular day while I was adjusting a “Holy Man” I heard a voice in my head that said, “This is it. This is your reward for finding your calling. You listened. You trusted that you would be blessed beyond measure and you are. Enjoy the moment!” At times, leaning over people while I made that connection, tears of Gratitude would fall onto them and I had to breathe deeply to stay present. Being present has always been something I work at and this experience felt like the final exam. I passed!
Throughout those 4 days, I watched our team serve together. Connecting through a glance and a smile, no words were needed to bond in that experience. The energy in the tent was so surreal that even with hovering news crews, photographers, VIPs and an amazing team of translators there was a peacefulness knowing that the only person that mattered at that moment was the person lying on my table. Everything else was blurred and muffled. I got to stay in gratitude and I never wanted to leave. So on the day after “Thanksgiving” I am making everyday Thanksgiving!
Today, I am grateful for the amazing toilet paper we have here in the US. If you’ve ever been to India, I’m sure you understand.
In Gratitude!