Welcome to the recent speeches podcast presented by BYU Speaches, featuring inspiring new

devotionals and forums given each week on BYU campus. Be sure to check out our other podcasts

by searching BYU speeches wherever you get your podcasts or by visiting speeches.bYU.edu slash

podcasts. This devotional address entitled Miracles of the

Multitude was given on June 3, 2006 by Elisa M. Dishman, a professor of law at Brigham Young

University's J. Ruben Clark Law School. About a year and a half ago, my husband and I sat in a children's hospital for a

parent's workshop. Our daughter was struggling with significant chronic pain and a small

group of parents, all of us with children facing different health challenges, had gathered to learn

techniques to ease our children's suffering. Down the hall, our children were doing the same,

learning from medical professionals and each other

how to manage their pain so they could more fully participate

in school, friendships, and everyday life.

Our workshop lives led by a highly credentialed,

capable, and deeply compassionate psychologist,

and I might add, an alumna of BYU.

She walked us through the nature of chronic pain and introduced us to a relaxation tool called visualization.

Visualization, or guided imagery, is a therapeutic technique in which the mind creates detailed,

positive mental scenarios to reduce stress, ease physical pain, and improve emotional

well-being. We practiced visualization together as parents. The psychologist asked us to close our eyes and imagine ourselves in a park

sitting on a bench. I visualized myself sitting on a bench. But instead of a park, I saw a

curving brick pathway. I saw a stream running nearby and heard water rippling over the rock stream red.

I saw tall trees that shaded the bench

...