Power of Congregation/Religion/Prayer with Brain Injury

Stories of Power of Congration,Religion and Prayer

The following are stories of real life survivors of brain injury.  Clicking on the titles will take you to their actual story.

Helena – The Silent Song of Brain Injury

Helena states; “I had to just surrender to whatever was happening in my life, and before the accident I said to God, I don’t care if you’re with me. You’ve always been with me, it’s not enough. So when I think I was still in ICU, and I just got really mad with God and I said, you’ve made promises to your people for thousands of years; you’d better start delivering, because I don’t want to live that old life .” And when asked if God had answered her she responded with; “Yeah, he just said okay, I’m going to make you so quiet that you can’t do anything and you can kind of start over.” The contribution of religion to her recovery has not just been her connection with God but with her church as well. Asked about the contributions to her recovery, in addition to providing safe haven when she was discharged from the hospital, she said: “They’ve done things like, they’ve prayed. I got cards and letters, they, they prayed for me, and they still do pray for me, and I, I know that that helped keep me afloat, and then physically they would take me to appointments or bring me groceries or just let me know that they were there, and if I, and when I needed them, they’d be there for me.”

Lethan – The Phone Tells of an Accident

Lethan’s Mom says the words that all Mom’s want to shout.: “And I said “Lethan you will live, hear me? You will live.’ And I closed my eyes and began to pray.”

Lethan – Community Support After Brain Injury

Lethan tells about the vigil his parents arranged for him: “You see, my parents had decided to run this service in the Quaker style of worship; that’s where the entire congregation comes together to sit in silence. To pray and meditate and be with one another and then when someone feels moved by the light they may stand and share a thought, a prayer, a memory, even a joke; whatever feels appropriate at that time. My parents thought that this would be a good all-inclusive non-denominational style of worship to include the community and they were right in theory. Unfortunately, despite the fact that we were living in the Quaker State, the only thing the majority of the people present actually knew about Quakers was they had something to do with oats and no one really knew what to do.And the service began awkwardly; a little shuffling, a little bit of whispering in the back there. And no one said anything for 35 minutes. My parents were just starting to think that maybe they had made a mistake and maybe they should end the service early when Susan, a friend I went to elementary school with, suddenly felt moved move by the light. And she stood and she shared a memory and no one remembers what this memory actually

Lori-The Thesis of Her Story

Is there any insight that you can give in terms of those moments when it’s the hardest to find that bright light and motivation?: “I’m a very religious person. I pray. I love my life and I pray for all other brain injury, that they love their life.”

Mike Conclusion – Words for Others Impacted by Severe Brain Injury

Is there anything that you may want to share about what you guys have been through in the last eight months that might be able to help other spouses with that waiting, that fighting back with the doctors tell you there’s no hope?: “Just a lot of hope and prayer. You know, we’re not big churchgoers or anything but I believe there is a God above and he will take care of you and everything happens for a reason. I believe that and life is good if one doesn’t weaken. I believe that and I would say that every day to myself.”

Nancy Part Seven – Coming out of the Coma After Brain Surgery

Were you making some bargains with God at that point?: “Oh, no. It was, uh, the oddest thing. I had a huge calm come over me, it was a very weird feeling. I mean not weird, but very relaxing, it was just like okay, we can do this. Somebody had sent me a little prayer and inside the card it said God never gives you more than what you can handle. And so I kind of remembered that and was like okay.”