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GOD's rich Pattern - The peace of acceptance
GOD's rich Pattern - The peace of acceptance
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
The peace of acceptance Four years on life had taken on a more peaceful turn. Ralph was not kicking quite so hard. There was more a sense of resignation and acceptance of his situation. Life had more or less returned to normal, whatever that might mean. I was picking up the piece
GOD's rich Pattern - A painful parting
GOD's rich Pattern - A painful parting
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A painful parting Ralph’s deterioration, both mentally and physically, took a huge downturn. He was constantly falling, finding himself in a totally agitated state, unable to stand. After two falls in the middle of the night, which my carer and I had to cope with, it was time to
GOD's rich Pattern - The final walk
GOD's rich Pattern - The final walk
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
The final walk In my last meditation I spoke of the unity within my family: Ralph, myself and Harvey, our dog, who meant so much to Ralph. Ralph had had a very difficult year, with lots of bouts of infection and trips to hospital, becoming more and more fatigued and weakened by t
GOD's rich Pattern - My best friend
GOD's rich Pattern - My best friend
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
My best friend It was Princess Diana who famously once said, ‘There were three of us in this marriage.’ In our case there certainly were – namely, Ralph, myself and Harvey, our chocolate English Cocker Spaniel. He came into our life when he was eleven weeks old. Ralph and I had a
GOD's rich Pattern - Patience through the chaos
GOD's rich Pattern - Patience through the chaos
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
Patience through the chaos Living with Parkinson’s (I use that phrase deliberately due to the fact that Parkinson’s took over our lives) is no joke, particularly when the person suffering from it is angry, but will not express his anger. The way it manifested itself was to come o
GOD's rich Pattern - A trip that would make a difference
GOD's rich Pattern - A trip that would make a difference
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A trip that would make a difference Throughout all our struggle, the work of The Lin Berwick Trust continued. We had our first cottage in East Harling, Norfolk. We were then looking for a second site. Where it would come from, I had no idea. I knew we just had to go forward in fa
GOD's rich Pattern - A reason for living
GOD's rich Pattern - A reason for living
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A reason for living Ralph hated the term Parkinson’s disease. He felt he was somehow contagious, and didn’t want anyone to know that he had it. He behaved as though he were ashamed. When tragedy strikes, our first reaction is that we don’t want to go on. Life has no meaning. For
GOD's rich Pattern - Personal cost
GOD's rich Pattern - Personal cost
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
Personal cost The success of our second holiday home was at a personal cost. Ralph became increasingly anxious, never wanting to socialize. My home was becoming more and more of a prison, as I hardly went outside the door. I tried to motivate Ralph, but to no avail. All he was in
GOD's rich Pattern - A window on the world
GOD's rich Pattern - A window on the world
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A window on the world The joy of discovering that I had a brain soaking up English literature, music and choral singing was fantastic. I’d had, until blindness struck, only a very basic education. It was really only occupation of the mind, rather than learning life skills. Now, a
GOD's rich Pattern - Trials and tribulations
GOD's rich Pattern - Trials and tribulations
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
Trials and tribulations After all the excitement, it was down to earth with a bang. As I stated earlier, I had my left eye removed in 1976. Two years later my right eye (the one I had seen out of) started to play up. The pains in my head were tremendous. It was as though I had a
GOD's rich Pattern - A new way of communicating
GOD's rich Pattern - A new way of communicating
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A new way of communicating The media attention that I have just mentioned took me to places of which I would never have dreamt. A friend, who had multiple sclerosis, ran a regional branch of the Muriel Braddick Foundation. This provided taped music, Christian thought and personal
GOD's rich Pattern - Where was God?
GOD's rich Pattern - Where was God?
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
Where was God? I couldn’t pray, I could only cry out in anguish. Why Lord? Why did you allow this to happen? I had, I felt, experienced my own personal Calvary a number of times in my life, and now I was having more problems heaped upon me. So many of us feel that we are not stro
GOD's rich Pattern - Where to now?
GOD's rich Pattern - Where to now?
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
Where to now? The work of a public relations officer took me into many different areas. I became so well known at the BBC that the car park attendants and security staff used to greet me by my name as I came in with my trusty tape recorder. I produced many good interviews that we
GOD's rich Pattern - Dogged determination
GOD's rich Pattern - Dogged determination
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
Dogged determination I had a mixed reaction from people when I entered the local preachers’ meeting. I was questioned by the secretary as to my ability to preach. He said that it would be difficult for me to cope with the public speaking. I explained that I had done over three hu
GOD's rich Pattern - Shared dark valley
GOD's rich Pattern - Shared dark valley
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
Shared dark valley Every new contact with counselling took me on a different pathway. Through the work with Carematch, Dr Greengross asked me to get involved with SPOD (Sexual Problems of Disabled). It is sobering for some people to realize that people with disabilities are sexua
GOD's rich Pattern - Treading water
GOD's rich Pattern - Treading water
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
Treading Water I used this limbo period in my life to study and stretch my mind. My family thought it was a complete waste of time, but when you read C. G. Jung, Freud, Ardler, T. A. Harris and many more, then on the religious front many books from the great writers and philosoph
GOD's rich Pattern - New beginnings
GOD's rich Pattern - New beginnings
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
New beginnings While I was having the operation on my back, the man who was my fiancé at the time came into the hospital and broke off our engagement. We attended the same church and, due to the emotion of it all, I felt I would not be able to attend services there if he was stil
GOD's rich Pattern - A fine romance