Noticing that the man I mentioned yesterday died so soon after my visit I got curious about the effectivity of the cloak room metaphor.<\/p>\n
\nI remember I was called to the bed of a dying woman. When I arrived she was breathing about once per minute. I didn\u2019t know that a person could breathe so little and still be alive. Her daughter and her son in law were there. I asked if it were appropriate to speak a prayer, to which they said \u201cYes\u201d. After telling the dying woman that her daughter and son in law were there, who I was and what I was going to do I put my hand on her arm and spoke a prayer. Then I said to her: \u201cI would like to tell you something, Mrs. S. I imagine there\u2019s a door. When it will be the right time for you, you can go through that door. Next to the door there\u2019s a cloak room. There\u2019s someone who can have an eye on your things so they\u2019re safe. It\u2019s a special wardrobe. You can had in anything that\u2019s a burden to you.
\nIf you\u2019re afraid \u2013 take it off. You don\u2019t need any fear over there.
\nIf you\u2019re sad \u2013 hand it in. For what? You don\u2019t have any use for that now.
\nIf you bear a grudge or haven\u2019t forgiven someone \u2013 hang it on the big wardrobe.
\nIf you feel obliged to anything \u2013 take it off.
\nIf you think you need to stay \u2013 there\u2019s nothing you need to! If you want, give it to the one who\u2019s standing there for guarding it.
\nIf you think there\u2019s still something left to do or that there\u2019s anything missing \u2013 hand it in to the one who will guard it for you.
\nIf there\u2019s anything unpleasant in your body \u2013 give it to him as well.
\nIf there\u2019s any problem with breathing \u2013 give it to him as well.
\nIf there\u2019s anything else you would like to give to him \u2013 hand in anything that you don\u2019t need any more.
\nGive him anything that has become a burden for you. Take it off. You don\u2019t need it any more. And when you notice that it\u2019s time for you, go through the door.\u201d I finished with a blessing.
\nDuring the prayer the breath frequency of the woman had gon up to about six breaths per minutes, and thus it stayed for a while. Her daughter and son-in-law were observing her breath silently. The silence felt somewhat heavy for me and I had the imagination it could be the same for the dying woman. So I asked: \u201cCan you tell me what happened so your mother got in this state?\u201d The daughter said a few sentences. Her mother\u2019s breath got very slow again. After five breaths there was a very tiny one. Then everything was still. (Stefan Hammel, Loslassen und leben. Impress, Mainz 2016)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nI\u2019ve used this metaphor a number of times now. Often the effect seemed to be very strong. The structure is thus: There\u2019s door and a cloak room and an attendant next to it. You say: Whatever burdens you concerning the past: Hand it in. This can be specified as a bad conscience or anger against someone else or sadness about something that happened. Whatever burdens you concerning the future: Hand it in. This could be specified as worries about the relatives or about what comes after death. Whatever burdens you concerning the present, hand it in. This could for example be specified as a discomfort of the body (pain) or breathing problems.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Noticing that the man I mentioned yesterday died so soon after my visit I got curious about the effectivity of the cloak room metaphor. I remember I was called to the bed of a dying woman. When I arrived she … Continue reading