{"id":694,"date":"2013-05-18T19:24:22","date_gmt":"2013-05-18T19:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=694"},"modified":"2013-05-16T19:42:25","modified_gmt":"2013-05-16T19:42:25","slug":"lupus-coping-skill-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html","title":{"rendered":"Lupus: Coping Skill # 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\">The human spirit can endure a sick body,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">but who can bear it if the spirit is crushed?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Proverbs 18:14, New Living Translation<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-644\" alt=\"Maureen Pratt Author Pic\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/350\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg\" width=\"246\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>These few words from Proverbs say it all about the importance of a strong spirit when faced with any kind of illness or pain. We can see all the doctors in the world, and seek all the newest or oldest of medical treatments. But under the weight of illness and through the challenge of pain, if our spirits are not strong, we will not &#8220;bear it&#8221; and be the people that we are capable of being.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">A strong spirit is the difference between someone who says, &#8220;I can&#8217;t,&#8221; and someone who says, &#8220;I will.&#8221; It is the underpinning of the will that enables a young mother\u00a0 to get up each day and nurture her children, even as she has serious lupus. A spirit that is strong can enable each of us to face an unknown future with great courage, and to let go of the past in order to move ahead.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">A strong spirit is the stuff that fills us when we are most empty, and gives us the iron core\u00a0 of resolve when everything around us seems to be falling apart.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Yet, for all of its importance, I still encounter resistance when it comes to speaking with patient organizations or others involved with &#8220;the cause.&#8221; Perhaps this is because of the misperception that spirituality and medical conditions have nothing to do with one another. Or, perhaps this is because the invdividuals expressing skepticism or prejudice are unsure within themselves of the state of their own spirituality.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">By the time someone has received the diagnosis\u00a0and learned about it (Coping Skill # 1: Education), and put his or her life and medical records in order (Coping Skill # 2: Organization), he or she usually experiences that ton-of-bricks moment when\u00a0a greater realization hits, the knowledge inside and out that life will be forever changed and often in\u00a0difficult and painful ways. No amount of doctors&#8217; appointments or lab tests can dampen the way this realization can instill great fear and uncertainty. But it is\u00a0exactly at this time when spiritual strength comes front and center.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Coping Skill # 3: Spiritual Strength.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">The more we take steps to strengthen our spirits each day, to deepen prayer, to broaden our relationship with God, the \u00a0better off we will be, on good days and on bad days.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Maureen<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear it if the spirit is crushed? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Proverbs 18:14, New Living Translation These few words from Proverbs say it all about the importance of a strong spirit when faced with any kind of illness or pain. We can see all the doctors in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,379],"tags":[582,583,502,18,30,584,586,585],"class_list":["post-694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-lupus-2","tag-coping-skill","tag-diagnosis-of-lupus","tag-living-with-lupus","tag-lupus","tag-pain","tag-proverbs","tag-spiritual-strength","tag-strong-spirit"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lupus: Coping Skill # 3 - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lupus: Coping Skill # 3 - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear it if the spirit is crushed? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Proverbs 18:14, New Living Translation These few words from Proverbs say it all about the importance of a strong spirit when faced with any kind of illness or pain. We can see all the doctors in&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-18T19:24:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-16T19:42:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lupus: Coping Skill # 3 - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lupus: Coping Skill # 3 - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear it if the spirit is crushed? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Proverbs 18:14, New Living Translation These few words from Proverbs say it all about the importance of a strong spirit when faced with any kind of illness or pain. We can see all the doctors in&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2013-05-18T19:24:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-16T19:42:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html","name":"Lupus: Coping Skill # 3 - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg","datePublished":"2013-05-18T19:24:22+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-16T19:42:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic5-246x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-coping-skill-3.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lupus: Coping Skill # 3"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain &amp; Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":695,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions\/695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}