February 2008 MIM Meeting: Dr. Verna Cornelia Price- You Have the Power. Believe!

A Lovely Valentine to Each of Us—A Night with Heart

Serendipitous. That’s what it was. Verna Cornelia Price, Ph. D., was scheduled to speak at MIM months ago. We didn’t plan her talk to coincide with Valentine’s Day, but she was a valentine to each of us. It was an evening to think about how valuable and deserving of love each of us is.

She said that her message was simple, but profound. And it was so.

Dr. Price(center in picture) said that we were going to have a conversation so she gathered us in a close-knit circle as befitting a conversation. This was going to be a conversation about power. She asked us to think about what power looks like in our lives.

She said that God gave each of us something specifically for us, something to change our life, but God put that something in a secret code. When we can figure out how to access our specific code, we will be free to live fully and be our most excellent self. When that happens a person won’t have to compete ever again. A person won’t ever have to be jealous or resentful of what others have. She assured us that she would not be talking with us if she didn’t believe that we could truly live to be our most excellent self.

Our secret code is called power and it is within us, within the core of our being. We must learn to access that code; only we can do that. God and we are the only ones who know our code. God gave it to us, so now only we can search for the access to our code. We have the power to change our lives by what we think and say and do. The world was created by words and we give out our power by the words that we say. We give away our power when we take in negative words.

I thought of our prayer before reading the Gospel on Sunday

May the Word be in my thoughts
May the Word be in my words
May the Word be in my heart
Don’t allow anyone to violate your core, your birthright. You were born valuable. Think about how carefully we treat something valuable, a treasure. Don’t allow anyone to violate your core. You were born important. Treat yourself like you are important. Don’t allow anyone to violate your core. You were born to be loved. Don’t let anyone violate your core. You were born loveable. Don’t allow anyone to violate your core.

Dr. Price recommending reading Psalm 139

Truly you have formed my inmost being
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made
wonderful are your works.
My soul also you knew full well
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret
When I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
Mary Paradis is a long time member of St. Joan of Arc with her husband, Claude. Mary is currently the co-chair of the Mental Illness Ministry. Mary can be reached at claudemaryparadis@comcast.net.
The evening highlighted the very purpose of MIM, what we are, why MIM exists. What an evening of celebration! MIM chose three words to describe what we are about—Enrich! Empower! Celebrate! All three happened this night. What a valentine. It didn’t come in the mail, it came in person and it’s up to us to access that valentine.
Theresa Dolata has been a member of SJA since 2002. She is a writer, a stand-up comic, photographer and massage therapist. Theresa currently resides in South Minneapolis and is a member of Vail Place, a support program for people with mental illness, and a member of St. Joan's Mental Illness Ministry.

MIM member Theresa Dolata opened the meeting with a poem called Walk the Walk of Faith.