A Stroke of Faith by Mark Moore

Guest Blogger Mark Moore

I had always believed that I was in charge of my life, and I had been doing a heck of a good job of it. I was a successful businessman, loving husband and involved father, dedicated amateur athlete, and active member of my local church. However, everything changed on a beautiful Sunday morning in May 2007, when I was hit in quick succession by two nearly fatal strokes at the age of 46. Suddenly, I was no longer in control of anything.

After spending nearly a month in a medically-induced coma, I awoke to find myself a helpless invalid lying in a hospital bed, unable to lift my head, pierced by IVs, tubes, and monitoring devices, and suffering from a hole in my skull from what turned out to be life-saving surgery.

I wondered if I would ever be able to live a life like the one before my strokes and questioned whether I’d ever be able to walk, speak, or tie my shoes again. At first, I was devastated that this had happened to me, but I eventually realized that this was an opportunity to rearrange my priorities and focus on the things that were important to me. From then on, I vowed to never take my family, friends, health, or faith for granted ever again.

Now, 10 years later, I have made an almost-near recovery due to the expertise of medical professionals, extensive rehabilitation, and what I call the 3 F’s (family, faith, and friends)—even having completed a 5k race one year after my strokes. While my life will never fully return to pre-stroke normality, I have chosen to dedicate my life to philanthropy, my family, my renewed relationship with God and his plan, educating others about stroke awareness and prevention, and inspiring those who have suffered similar events. I am proud to be a regional ambassador for the American Stroke Association and the American Heart Association, through which I have been blessed to be able to share my story and educate people about strokes.

The 10^th anniversary of my stroke is this month, coincidently falling during American Stroke Month. My new book, A Stroke of Faith: A Stroke Survivor’s Story of a Second Chance at Living a Life of Significance, published this month, and tells the story of my strokes and recovery journey. I hope that it will inspire others who have suffered similar afflictions and empower them to fully commit to their journey of recovery, even if it seems impossible at the time.

Mark Moore is a philanthropist and successful businessman. Along with his wife Brenda, a former nurse, Mark has established the Mark and Brenda Moore and Family Foundation, through which he supports advances in healthcare, education, culture and the arts, and Christian evangelism. Prior to engaging full time in his philanthropic work, Mark was Chief Operating Officer and co-owner of Segovia, Inc., a leading provider of global internet protocol services to the US Defense Department. Mark is also the Mid-Atlantic Ambassador for the American Stroke Association and the author of the memoir A Stroke of Faith, which is now on sale.

Now retired, Mark spends his days educating people about stroke prevention and awareness, sharing his inspirational story with those who have suffered strokes and other traumatic ailments, and giving back to his community.

In A Stroke of Faith, you’ll read about:
•       The moving story of the COO and co-founder of a multi-billion dollar company who stared down fear as he had to learn to write a check again, tie his shoes, and even walk.
•       How Mark turned to God for a deeper understanding of his hardships.
•       Mark’s Stroke Recovery Guide, where Mark shares key insights that helped him through his recovery.
•       How Mark’s stroke affected his wife and two children, and while there were many challenges along the way, it ultimately brought them closer together as a family.
•       How to be loving friends, care-takers and encouragers to those who are recovering from a stroke, or serious medical condition.
•       The story of how one man accepted that through this test of his very life, he was given a second chance to give back to his family, his friends, his community in ways he never dreamed possible.

More about Mark and A Stroke of Faith can be found at www.astrokeoffaith.com and on Facebook and Twitter @AuthorMarkMoore. @AuthorMarkMoore.

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Tues Jan 1

Psalms: 103 148

Gen 17:1-12a, 15-16

Col 2:6-12

John 16:23b-30

When I was growing up, my mother brought food to the table in bowls and on platters. We then gathered around the table and remained standing behind our chairs while my father gave thanks for the food we were about to receive.

While raising our children, food still came to the table in bowls and on platter. Everyone carried something to the table, chattering away about their day. We sat and took turns saying grace or choosing the grace that would be offered by all.

During the Christmas holidays, our daughters served our plates in the kitchen. When all the plates were on the table, we were called to come and eat. I noticed that the younger children would begin to eat as soon as they sat down. 

 When everyone gathered around the table, the children set their utensils on their plates, chewed and swallowed what was in their mouths, and raised their hands if they wanted to help say grace.

Psalm 103:1 in action. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, let all that is within me bless thy holy name.”

As our family grows and changes, I am convinced over and over again: God does not change. “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children.” Psalm 103:17.

John Wesley believed that God creates each human “capable of God.” We carry within us a capability to know, love and obey our creator. With that capability, we are inheritors of the “everlasting covenant of grace” between God and Abraham. 

This and all succeeding covenants are a means of grace for all readers everywhere.  The covenant is mutual: we must walk before him in obedience and he will be our blessing.  We, as descendants of this covenant, are invited into a vibrant rapport with God. We are free to and expected to relate intimately with God, and God for his part can always be counted on to be there.

For us, Jesus is the shepherd and the gate to the sheepfold.  When we live in a way consistent with the Lordship of Christ, we have direct access to God.  “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his Holy name.”

God's benefits still include forgiveness, health, redemption, love, mercy and goodness. For our part, we only need to be faithful to remember and do his commandments. Take the time to know him. Learn his commandments. Be willing to forgive others. Take the time required to accept God's forgiveness. Work at forgiving yourself.

When  it seems that health is gone - cling to the health that obedience brings. Obedience to take medicine on time. Obedience to nap when energy is depleted. Obedience to exercise to increase endurance. Obedience to allow others to do things their way and to accept graciously the gift of "let me do that for you." Obedience to follow the doctor's recommendation not to get out in the cold, and especially the cold and wet. Obedience to do what you can. Obedience to forgive yourself. 

Praise God for his redemption through Jesus Christ. Be thankful for his goodness and gift of the Holy Spirit. Lean on him. Find 10, 000, or even 10 reasons to Bless the Lord, O my soul. Write them down, so those who follow, generation after generation, can know them, too.

Published on May 17, 2012

Video copyright Youtube User ID bobf72450. 

Bless The Lord O My Soul sung by Matt Redman. "Bless the Lord O My Soul" is a phrase reiterated from Psalms 103 and 104.

Healthy Thinking: Praying

A study by the Californian cardiologist Randolf Byrd helped inspire Larry Dossey to get involved in the healing power of prayer. In 1988 Byrd studied 393 heart patients. They were randomly divided into two groups using a double-blind technique, which means that neither the patients, nor the doctors or nurses knew to which group the patients belonged. Catholic and protestant prayer groups were given the names and health conditions of patients from the first control group and every day they directed their prayer to someone from that group. No prayers were said for the patients from the second control group. The group for which prayers were said needed five times fewer antibiotics than the other group, had three times less lung edema and no one needed intubation to help them breathe, as opposed to 12 people in the other control group.

Dr. Larry Dossey

Larry Dossey has since become an authority in the area of “medicine at a distance.” He is more than convinced that prayer works:

Dr. Dossey says “Studies have irrefutably proven that people on a spiritual path – whereby meditation or prayer play a role – live an average of 7-13 years longer than those who are not. Moreover, cancer and heart disease are significantly less prevalent among those who pray or meditate. Prayer has an effect on nearly every living organism it has been tried on: people, various cells and tissue, animals, plants and organisms such as bacteria, fungi and yeast. At least 130 controlled laboratory experiments have been done.

“Prayer is communicating with the creative powers of the universe, with the extrasensory. There are different types of prayer: the appeal for something for yourself, the meditation in which you ask something for someone else, veneration, plea… In every case we go beyond our mind, which tends to think that it can solve everything by itself.”

Prayer to Dr. Dossey is not something holy that is only reserved to pious churchgoers: “Everyone can pray, even if you don’t believe in God. A friend of mine prays to ‘To whom it may concern.’ Research clearly indicates that the intention of the prayer is important to the result. When you pray, do so with your whole heart, like a child, from a place of wonder, innocence and sincerity.”

One more tip: “There is not just one good way to pray. You can pray for something specific, give thanks or simply ask for help. When facing something difficult, for instance: ‘Come on God, help me out here.’ It works! Try to find your own way to pray. If your wording becomes too formal, it often loses its power.”

Dr. Dossey remembers once sitting in a room during a lecture by a theologian. Someone asked: “How exactly should you pray?’” Her answer: “It’s very simple, ask God.”

Dr. Larry Dossey, M.D. is a doctor, writer and inspired thinker who is helping clear the way to a new approach to medicine, where the ‘non-local’ conscious also plays a significant role. He has won numerous awards for his work in Integrative Medicine. Dr. Dossey is the former executive editor of Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing, a peer reviewed journal which covers the fields of integrative medicine, environmental health, spirituality, and consciousness-related health issues.

Dr. Dossey’s Vision: I long thought that we must choose between science and reason on the one hand, and spirituality on the other. Now I understand that this is a deceptive choice. They can go very well together, not only in the academic world, but also in daily life.

Dr. Dossey’s Books: The Power of Premonitions (2009);The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things (2005);Healing Beyond the Body (2001); Reinventing Medicine (1999); Be Careful What You Pray For (1997); Prayer is Good Medicine (1996); Healing Words (1993); Meaning & Medicine (1991); Recovering the Soul (1989); Beyond Illness (1984); Space, Time and Medicine (1982)

Ode is a print and online publication about positive news, about the people and ideas that are changing our world for the better. In print and online, Ode's aim is to bring a new reality into view, to explore opportunities for positive change in our daily lives and our daily minds.

This article is shared by permission of Dr. Larry Dossey and Ode Magazine. It first appeared in Ode Magazine: #5.