During a period of great turmoil in my life following a painful divorce, I was struggling to regain a sense of peace. Newly single, but with a new full-time job and three children under the age of twelve, I was faced with both responsibility and the opportunity for spiritual growth, yet, at the time, the spiritual growth I yearned for seemed all but impossible as I found it difficult to feel connected to God, or to pray, because of the shame I was feeling over my inability to save the marriage.
Although my job was exciting, old patterns of thought and behavior (shame, self-doubt, and reticence) kept me from excelling. Then, one day I injured my shoulder at a work event. I didn’t give it much thought until a couple of days later when the pain became almost unbearable and my arm movement was extremely limited.
Because the condition was work-related, it seemed expedient to seek medical care. The medical prognosis was that it could take up to a year for my shoulder to heal. I was given several prescriptions for pain, anti-inflammatory medications, and a physical therapy routine.
