I am reminded of the oncology nurse who tells the story of working with a despairing man who was struggling with a variety of painful losses. Her skilled efforts at raising and addressing psychological and spiritual issues had brought no response. She invited the man to go for a walk in a garden outside the facility and, looking down, saw a dead butterfly on the ground. Without comment, she picked it up and gave it to him. After a long period of silence, he began to speak about his losses and what they meant to him and, eventually, of ways he might come to grips with the possibilities that his life still held.

Taking a walk and picking up the butterfly are creative processes that are not deduced from a model. Certainly there is no counseling or psychotherapy algorithm which says, "go outside, find a dead insect, and give it to the patient." To the extent that what we as would-be healers do is inductive and creative, it places a premium on our ability to be open to inspiration, or in-spiriting. It places a premium on our spiritual well-being, and on our ability to be receptive to the movement of the Spirit (or, perhaps, "God" or "Higher Power") in using us in sometimes unforeseen ways as agents of change and healing.