(Inspired by an actual event.) Joanna had Stage 4 diabetes. She was having dialysis three times a week for two long years. She was a billionaire in the textile business and could afford it, no problem. She had a reputation of being a greedy heartless businesswoman.
Her doctor gave her six months to live. As of this writing, two years have gone by but she was still alive. Little did she know that that the Lord made her sick so she could seek his healing and mend her greed. Terminal sickness had a way of healing the spirit. She was healed because she had to do something for the Lord. This is her story.
eastwind journals, 220919 (archives tr289)
By Bernie V. Lopez, eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com
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P459 – Jesus walks on water.
As a teenager, the enterprising Joanna started with a small tailoring shop, and, with sheer sweat, she slowly became a textile millionaire, one of the youngest among a handful of lady tycoons. Before she hit 30, she was a billionaire. But hard work took its toll. Her diabetes advanced suddenly and rapidly to Stage 4 with very little symptoms.
Joanna was a female Scrooge, demanding so much from employees but giving low wages. She hired them as ‘casuals’ just to get around benefits required by the law. She would shout endlessly at them when she was not in the mood. She successfully stopped a strike by giving a 5% salary increase, shrewdly charged to miscellaneous expenses to lower her tax liabilities.
Joanna had a gnawing fear of her terminal ailment. She had a friend whose legs were amputated due to gangrene caused by diabetes. She had another friend whose diabetes led to a brain stroke and lived on a wheelchair. They had now passed away. Her mother and uncle died of diabetes, so it is a genetic ailment for her. The gradual realization of death plunged her into a deep protracted depression.
She kept secret her ailment to her family and friends. No one knew. Once, she attempted to commit suicide using rat poison, but changed her mind last minute. She raced to the hospital where her poison was pumped out of her stomach in time. She was in the ICU for 15 days. Then did she realize how precious her life was even if she was hopelessly a terminal case.
Finally, unable to stand it any further, she poured herself to her close friend Ester, a classmate back in college, who was her manager at the textile factory. Over vodka, the two staged an intense three-day session in a first-class hotel suite. In their drunk stupor, they realized the power of alcohol to bring out their creative instincts. They had a plan.
Ester taught Joanna the meaning and power of prayer. After their hangover, they stayed in a Buddhist temple somewhere in Spain. Ironically, they became more Catholic and closer to the Lord in a Buddhist temple. Joanna evolved from Scrooge to philanthropist. She wept profusely when she finally discerned what the Lord wanted her to do. They embraced and resolved to go to Mass every day, praying for healing.
When the Lord finally healed her, Joanna wanted to return the favor to the Lord. What better thing to do than devout her life to the poor who could not afford dialysis. The grand plan was to buy 50 dialysis machines and put up a free dialysis center for the poor. But she did not turn down the rich, who paid for services, whose income was plowed back to the center.
P539 – I make you sick so you can seek my healing.
ESTER – Tell me about your depression.
JOANNA – At first, I wanted to die. I withdrew from the world, sitting in total darkness. I read books during the 3-hour dialysis about people who had the strength to fight back. Their stories changed me. Now, I am no longer afraid or depressed. I am happy. Every moment of my days is full.
ESTER – I have Stage 1 diabetes.
JOANNA – I will take care of you. Don’t think about it. Immerse yourself in what we will do. Get out of your shell. Never mope. The secret is to pour yourself on others and things that give you meaning. Never let absurdity creep in. When you find meaning, grab it.
ESTER – Our dialysis center plans changed me.
The dialysis center grew rapidly to 120 machines. The diabetes of Joanna and Ester vanished into the wind. They built a small chapel offering daily Mass, which was always crowded. Rich and poor, even foreigners, flocked into their haven. That was what the Lord wanted them to do for Him. (Note – the idea of the dialysis center was added to the real situation.)
P474 – then shall the eyes of the blind be opened.
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MORE INSPIRATIONAL ARTICLES – eastwindjournals.com.
FOR THOSE WHO NEED HEALING, spiritual or physical (depression, anxiety, loneliness, terminal cancer, covid, diabetes, etc.) – say an online healing prayer with one or both healers below. Terminal patients have been healed in cyberspace –
1) Father Fernando Suarez – www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UP3LHBgtIc.
2) Sr. Raquel Reodica, RVM – www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAZcwNimBSg
Download free e-book ‘Healing Stories of Sr. Raquel’ at eastwindjournals.com/2021/08/13/healing-stories-of-sr-raquel-e-book-free-download/).
AUTHOR’S BOOK – Wings and Wanderlust – Discovering Your Inner Self. At age 26, the author hitchhiked 25,000 kilometers in Europe and North Africa for three straight years. In this book of his wild adventures, he learned deep insights that changed him totally, which he wants to share with readers. It is also a guidebook on how to plan your own adventure.
Available at Amazon or Philippine source at cheaper price, e-book or hard copy paperback. For paperbacks, if you are a Philippine resident, save on shipping cost by ordering by email at eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com. For Amazon e-books, if you have an IPAD, download the app ‘kindle’. For non-IPADS, buy a kindle device (check guidelines.) – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KS7QYWL.
Author’s Credentials. Blogger – ex-Columnist (Inquirer) – Healing Ministry – ex-Professor (Ateneo University) – Documentary Producer-Director (freelance, ex-ABS-CBN, ex-TVS Tokyo) – ex-Broadcaster (Radio Veritas) – Facebook “Bernie V. Lopez Eastwind” / Pages “Eastwind Journeys and Journals” and “Mary Queen of Peace”.
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