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Altar at Christ Church
Wednesday evening - Healing Service
On Wednesday evening 21 folks got together at Christ Church in Sparta for a service of healing prayers and Holy Eucharist. It was my joy to get to plan this service with some very gifted musicians. The stimulation for the service was listening to a CD done by Mark and Julee Weems, Healing at the Roots: Songs of Renewal, produced by Little Windows. One of their arrangements is a John Michael Talbot song called, Healer of My Soul.
There is no doubt in my mind that God is a healing God. From the moment in Genesis when God stitches clothes for Adam and Eve to wear after they have been exiled from the garden, it seems clear to me that God is mending us...joining the fragmented ends of our lives, our soul and spirit. There are so many things that chip away at us, leaving splinters. Illness is just one of those "realities of life" that knocks up against us. Perhaps that is why many of the words used for healing in scripture carry a depth of meaning. God is revealed to the Israelites saying, "I am the Lord God who heals you" (Exodus 15:26) The writer uses the word RAPHAH (phonetic spelling of Hebrew) which not only means heal but to make whole, to stitch back together.
There are many questions surrounding God's healing and I think the reason for that is that we don't understand God or God's love. I don't pretend to know God's mind except for that which God has revealed in the lives of those great saints who have left us testimony, in scripture and in their writings. It seems clear to me that God's love is beyond anything we can understand. Isaiah says that we are "inscribed on the palm of God's hand". (Isaiah 49:17) "Can a mother forget the child she has bore in her womb or suckled at her breast? It is doubtful, concludes Isaiah but even if this should happen, God will "continually" remember you. We are remembered and we are loved and because of these things we can open ourselves to God's healing.
I know James Taylor is not considered a saint (except, perhaps in North Carolina) but there is some wisdom for us in his song, Secret of Life (Live):
There is no doubt in my mind that God is a healing God. From the moment in Genesis when God stitches clothes for Adam and Eve to wear after they have been exiled from the garden, it seems clear to me that God is mending us...joining the fragmented ends of our lives, our soul and spirit. There are so many things that chip away at us, leaving splinters. Illness is just one of those "realities of life" that knocks up against us. Perhaps that is why many of the words used for healing in scripture carry a depth of meaning. God is revealed to the Israelites saying, "I am the Lord God who heals you" (Exodus 15:26) The writer uses the word RAPHAH (phonetic spelling of Hebrew) which not only means heal but to make whole, to stitch back together.
There are many questions surrounding God's healing and I think the reason for that is that we don't understand God or God's love. I don't pretend to know God's mind except for that which God has revealed in the lives of those great saints who have left us testimony, in scripture and in their writings. It seems clear to me that God's love is beyond anything we can understand. Isaiah says that we are "inscribed on the palm of God's hand". (Isaiah 49:17) "Can a mother forget the child she has bore in her womb or suckled at her breast? It is doubtful, concludes Isaiah but even if this should happen, God will "continually" remember you. We are remembered and we are loved and because of these things we can open ourselves to God's healing.
I know James Taylor is not considered a saint (except, perhaps in North Carolina) but there is some wisdom for us in his song, Secret of Life (Live):
The secret of love is opening up your heart.
It's okay to feel afraid, but don't let it stand in your way.
It is hard to lean into love even when we can see the person we love. There are so many hurts in love. Loving God and leaning into that love so that we can open ourselves up to healing and mending is a process we grow into. Trusting God to do in our lives that mending which is most important at the moment is not easy. I can tell you this from experience... I want parts of my body that are wearing out to be restored, but it seems that the greater need for me last week was in the realm of mending and integrating my life in this new "phase" of retirement. I accept that as I continue to pray the words of Healer of My Soul:
Healer of my soul. heal me at even'
Heal me at morning, heal me at noon
Healer of my Soul.
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