Welcome

Heart Tales is a monthly newsletter for people on an adventure toward wholeness. It is published by Jim Cyr, storyteller, author, and crisis intervention specialist.

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Socks On, Socks Off.

I was frustrated, tired, and angry. As I pulled the socks off her gnarly, butt-ugly, misshapen, and scaly feet I gave I gave them a vigorous yank. I grumbled to myself that this was supposed to be my wife’s job, pulling socks on and off her ninety-year-old mother’s feet. But my wife was in the hospital suffering from dehydration, kidney problems, and a swollen, painful knee. So I was caring for her mother while Carol was laid up.

Several weeks later I found myself pulling elastic support hose and socks on and off my wife’s feet too. Carol was out of the hospital but her knee continued to pain her and now her hip was hurting too. Her legs and ankles were swelling so she needed to wear elastic support hose to keep the swelling down. Her knee and hip problems prevented her from pulling on her own stockings. So now my morning and evening routines included hosing and de-hosing two people. In between “socks on” and “socks off,” I was working ten hour days and taking care of all the household chores. My weariness, frustration, and anger continued to build and my sock yanking became even more intense.

One morning after, after pulling socks, I was sitting at my desk before leaving for work, learning Matthew 25:31-46 by heart. I was preparing for my first Biblical storytelling videotape which would be critiqued as part of my work for the Academy of Biblical Storytelling conducted by the Network of Biblical Storytellers. I recited verses 37 - 40 out loud:

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”

And my eyes were opened. Those gnarly, butt-ugly, misshapen, and scaly feet of my mother-in-law were the feet of Jesus. Those swollen feet of my wife were the feet of Jesus. I had been pulling socks on and off Jesus. I began to weep.When my tears were gone so were my anger and frustration. Left in their place was gratitude for the privilege of pulling socks on, socks off the feet of Jesus.

Thought to Ponder

“Lord, when was it that we saw you…”

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Heart Tales News

What’s on My Desk..

The Bible in Ancient and Modern Media, edited by Holly E. Hearon and Philip Ruge-Jones. A book of essays on what the discipline of performance criticism contributes to our understanding of the Bible.

Book

My book, The Cracked Pot: Finding Grace in the Cracks of Child Abuse is available at Amazon.com

“This is one man’s true story of the unspeakable things that were done to him as a child and his rocky journey through adulthood to find God, peace AND his true self.”

About Jim & Heart Tales

The true spirit of my work is to lead people on a life-changing adventure toward wholeness by connecting their hearts to their true selves, to others, and to God, through stories of healing, wisdom, and faith. My life-changing adventure toward wholeness includes performances of folk and fairy tales, sacred stories, and personal stories, and workshops on how to tell stories in therapeutic settings.

Feedback

“Jim’s storytelling spoke to many of the problems our women face on the road to recovery from addiction and gave them options for handling those problems they had not considered before.”
Helen Raytek, Program Director, Crawford House

“Jim, I want to thank you for your time, efforts, and talents in presenting your Clinical Benefits of Storytelling Workshop. I was very impressed with your professional and fun deliverance of the material and many useful resources and examples. I felt I benefited from it both personally and professionally, and will use what I learned…”
John J. D. Schweska, L.P.C. Assistant Program Director, Mobile Response and Stabilization Services, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen

“…your newsletter is a wonderful resource, and I hope that many will subscribe to it.”
Dr. Robert Bela Wilhelm, Storyfest Ministry

“…Thank you once again, Jim, for sharing your stories/your story and influencing my healing.”
Eileen