Confrontation, Conversation and Healing

Children of Peace

“Peace from above” - Amani ya Juu

Keep your tongue from evil

    and your lips from telling lies.

Turn from evil and do good;

    seek peace and pursue it.

Psalm 34: 13-14 (NIV)

But let justice roll on like a river,

    righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Amos 5:24 (NIV)

It has been a tragic couple of weeks of deadly confrontation.  We have been drawn into debates with complicated choices.  What do we all want?  Where is the common ground?  Where is the path of healing?  The answers are unclear from our media driven culture.  The answers are unclear in our violent responses. 

If we believe the psalmist, it starts within each of us speaking the truth that moves us to “seeking”!  We have seen examples of this reconciliation in the context of truth telling.  We have come to understand our interconnectedness in the concept of “Ubuntu”!  We have been forgiven and have a mission of healing that comes from our deepest beliefs and longings for peace and justice.

Today, let us look for those “connections” that are the basis of conversation and see our conversation as an opportunity and a gift.  We can have healing, if we live generously out of those relationships.  It is a divine promise!

Shalom,

Marvin

References 

Battle, M. (2009). Ubuntu: I in you and you in me. Seabury Books.

Hage, M. L. (2012). Healing and Violence. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/12/healing-and-violence.html

Tutu, D., & Tutu, M. (2014). The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World. HarperOne

Telling the Story

Come and hear, all you who fear God;

    let me tell you what he has done for me.

Psalm 66:16 (NIV)

I have read two wonderful books, Endurance and Deep, Dark, Down that describe survival of two very different groups of men.  The stories are true, complicated and instructive to all of our ordinary lives!

What is similar in both reports is the importance of being able to tell the story.   These very talented authors have been able to listen and read the accounts to craft a story of healing and salvation.  Both authors describe the critical importance of leadership and  the importance of “others” in the task of survival.  Both describe the miracles of faith and hope.

Like the authors, we have the wonderful privilege to listen and tell the stories of healing and with that opportunity we also find meaning and healing in our own lives!

Marvin

References

Lansing, A. (2014). Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (Anniversary Edition ed.). Basic Books

Tobar, H. (2014). Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Hage, M. L. (2010). An International Healer Parable. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2010/10/international-healing-parable.html

Hage, M. L. (2011). Pilgrimage and Healing. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/02/pilgrimage-and-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2012). God, Trials and Fears. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/04/god-trials-and-fears.html

Hope Agents

“And whenever I see people engaged in that work of love, 

I sense the divine presence brushing us with a touch so gentle you can miss it, 

and yet know beyond all possibility of doubt 

that this is what we are called on to live for, 

to ease the pain of those who suffer 

and become an agent of hope in the world.”  

“Hope is not costless in the way that optimism is.”

                                                      Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

It is easy to forget who we are and what we do!  I was reminded this last week in two ways, by the book The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and the public attention to the heroes of our time.  The Time announcement and the CNN Heroes helped us see the reality of Hope.  We were all reminded of the reality of vocation.

These headlines were not about fear, equality or even the stock exchange. It was about dedication and the reality of disease that got the attention of the world.   It was about the definition of “heroes” as those who create those safe spaces in a world of threats and pain.  It was about being healing agents by bringing Hope to a suffering world.

The message for me was the importance of the integration of our theology with the reality of our world and the meaning it brings.  We have seen the deeds before and we were reminded again of the reality of God’s work in the world.  

Marvin

References:

Sacks, Jonathan (2012-09-11). The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning (p. 206, p 242). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/10/2014-person-of-the-year-time-magazine_n_6287954.html

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/us/cnn-heroes

Hage, M. L. (2012). God’s Grace. Retrieved from 

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/10/gods-grace.html 

Hage, M.L. (2014). The Limits of Healing? Retrieved from 

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-limits-of-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2014). Healing Ebola. Retrieved from 

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2014/10/healing-ebola.html

Ancestry Gift

Start children off on the way they should go, 

and even when they are old they will not turn from it.   

Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, 

that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 John 3:1 (NIV)

It all started with a request from our granddaughter to provide five generations of ancestors for a school project.  That wasn’t too hard, but finding the specifics and the stories behind these names was harder.  The good news is that we rediscovered some wonderful ancestor stories already in our possession.

What was more important than the pedigree of names, dates and places were stories of a sustaining faith even in the face of very difficult circumstances. The obvious question is “Are those characteristics of strength, courage and faith, elements of nature or nurture?”  Will this school assignment teach these life lessons?  Will sharing the stories help us live our own story with more purpose and meaning?

There is a lot of debate theologically and scientifically about the origins of faith and meaning.  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his recent book, The Great Partnership: Science, Religion and the Search for Meaning, articulates a comprehensive response that promotes the integration of these perspectives.  

As a new grandfather, I thought it was important to document the early history of my grandchildren, so I made short videos of their births and baptisms.  Now, questions about our family history are new chapters in their stories. What a gift to be invited to be a partner in learning with them the stories of our ancestors!

Marvin

References

Sacks, J. (2014). The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning (Reprint ed.). Schocken

A Theology of Healing

Cover of "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. 

Matthew 4:23(KJV)

Sometimes you are given the gift of words and that is what happened, specifically, a sermon delivered by Dr. Sam Wells at Duke Chapel on February 15, 2009, titled “Does God Heal?” .  His words were “good old news”!  How did I miss this sermon?  At about the same time, I began reading my granddaughter’s recommended novel, Wonder, by R. J. Palacio.  Here is a story of healing that is a hit among 9 year olds!

The problem is how we understand what we are asking for and how this is relates to the healing as reported in the Bible.  What is clear is that we all need to know where “God Is?” in the midst of disease and pain!  An emphasis of Dr. Wells is the importance of the definitions and how they help us understand our deepest questions.  For Auggie, the protagonist in Wonder, we become part of a story of courage and caring in the real world of suspicion, doubt and fear.  This is a wonderful story of healing!

For Christians we have the powerful model of Jesus Christ who not only healed those around him, but brought healing to a suffering world where we have the privilege to be a part of His work.  We have been blessed with stories/sermons that get us close to the healing that is around us that we fail to name!  

Thanks,

Marvin

References;

Sermon by Dr. Sam Wells, 2/15/’2009 at Duke Chapel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKpS8zgg6TE

Palacio, R. J. (2013). Wonder. Random House. 

Interview with the author RJ Palacio 

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=221005752&m=221844123

Hage, M. L. (2010). Healing Agents: Christian Perspectives Second Edition (2 ed.)

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Hage, M. L. (2011). The Mystery of Healing. 

Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/04/mystery-of-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2012). Recognizing Healing. 

Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/04/recognizing-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2013). The Nature of Healing. Retrieved from 

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-nature-of-healing.html

Healing Art

Doctor and Doll by Norman Rockwell

“‘In the last days, God says,

    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

    your young men will see visions,

    your old men will dream dreams.

Acts 2:17 (NIV)

We just finished a wonderful and color-filled autumn trip to the Northeast United States.  One of the highlights was the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  I was moved by the character and vision of this man as captured in his voluminous depictions of American life and ideals.  

Where are we to find this kind of healing vision?  How can we capture a healing art in this complicated and cynical world?  My conclusion is that just like this Norman Rockwell image, it is found in both the old and the young where reality is created despite the evidence.  It is found in the visions of both!  It doesn’t deny the evidence, it sees beyond it.  Thanks for the healing art of Norman Rockwell.

Marvin

References

The Norman Rockwell Museum http://www.nrm.org/

Hage, M. L. (2011). Healing - Other Views. 

  Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/08/healing-other-views.html

Hage, M. L. (2011). Healing, HeLa and Heaven.

  Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/05/healing-hela-and-heaven.html

Healing Ebola

So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

Numbers 21:9 (NIV)

“ Then to love the sick, each and all of them, more than if my own body were at stake.”

Paracelsus (1493–1541)

Just listen to the first person report of the care being provided!  Can you believe the courage it takes!   Physicians and nurses tell stories that help us to hear and see the reality of our fears and those of our patients.  We have the wonderful opportunity to be part of those stories.

We need to continue to look carefully for cures and methods of prevention for all those at risk.  But just as important, we need to pray for courage and relief from the fear that would paralyze all our efforts.   Thanks be to God for the healing agents who have given their lives caring for the most vulnerable.

Marvin

References:

The Oath of Paraselsus Retrieved from http://weeksmd.com/2009/08/the-oath-of-paracelsus/

StoryCorps report that aired on NPR on October 10, 2014  Retrieved from

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/10/354888965/when-holding-an-orphaned-baby-can-mean-contracting-ebola

Hage, M. L. (2012). God’s Grace. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/10/gods-grace.html

Hage, M. L. (2011). Good Courage and Healing. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/05/good-courage-and-healing.html