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January 2004 |
Body, Mind & Spirit
Do you need to be healed?
By Todd Outcalt
This past summer, I was blessed by a 12-week sabbatical from pastoral ministry. In part, this sabbatical came about because my wife, Rebecca, had been diagnosed with breast cancer some months before. This experience had changed our outlook on life in some profound ways. The goals of the sabbatical included quality time in which to pray, to be refreshed and to write about our cancer experience. And yet, this time afforded me so much more.
During the first week of the sabbatical, I found myself ambling around a Benedictine monastery -- a place where I had arranged a small table and lamp as a writing space, eager to get at the emotional tumor that I hoped to remove. However, the first afternoon I ventured down a forgotten hallway and entered a closed door. There facing me was the image of the crucified Christ -- his body bent and weighed with the heaviness of his own injuries and the heaped suffering of the world.
I sat down, stared at this odd figure and realized that this was the Jesus I adored. This also was the Jesus I needed.
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God's healing touch penetrates far more than bodily cure. |
Staring at the image of this injured savior, I also realized that our healing -- what we desire from God when we are "sick" -- goes far beyond the physical. So often, when we speak of being "well" or being "healed," we focus only on the bodily cure. God's healing touch penetrates far more than bodily cure.
These days, we find ourselves struggling with illnesses our ancestors could scarcely imagine. The guy who has road rage or who suffers from vocational angst might, eventually, prove to be just as sick, or just as much a danger to himself or others, as someone taking chemotherapy.
A mother of three children who is alone and hungry living in squalid conditions might need healing of the mind and spirit every bit as much as a heart-transplant patient. Can we imagine the emotional trauma of those who teach their children to be suicide bombers or who suffer the loss of all things? Our injuries and infirmities go far beyond the flesh. So often we hurt in places we cannot even name.
One striking feature of the Gospel, of course, is reserved for those who are sick. But how do we name our illness? And where do we go when we need healing?
These are important questions for all of us, especially for those who seek to offer God's healing in a hurting world. The longer I am in ministry, the more convinced I become that one of the primary aspects of our ministry is helping others to experience God's healing, which is wholeness and ultimately salvation.
Perhaps, as Jesus said, there are those who have no need of a physician (Mark 2:17). But that's definitely not me and probably not you. And when we are working with others, we can always be aware that somewhere, somehow, most everybody has a wound or two. Just ask Jesus. He knows all about it.
The Rev. Todd Outcalt serves as senior pastor of University Heights United Methodist Church, Indianapolis.
Last updated on 01/14/2004