Tuesday, 22 December 2020

The Light Shines in the Darkness

The number of COVID cases since March in Canada has recently surpassed the 500,000 mark. But I am certain that all 38+ million Canadians need healing from the psychological effect of this disease. Mental health professionals will have work on their plate for years to come. But more needs to happen as well.

There is a little passage at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark that has fascinated me for years:

 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.  Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her.  So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. Mark 1, 29-31

A cynical eye might read the last sentence of this passage and conclude, “Just like a bunch of males: get Jesus to heal the woman so that she can prepare dinner for them.” But this is certainly not what happened here. I have come to believe that healing is not complete until the person who is ill can turn away from their woundedness and turn towards others to love them as Jesus did. Healing does not just repair our wounds; it also empowers us to turn outward to serve others.

Diane has a therapeutic lamp. During the long winter months when the days are so short, she turns it on for half an hour every day to compensate for the lack of natural lighting.

When there are so many people who need to be healed, there is a great need for healers. Many will be called to be therapeutic lights for others. Some will be powerful 12,000 lux healers. Others will only be able to light small flickering candles. But all will play a role in the great healing that needs to be accomplished. If we are to be fully healed ourselves, we will need to be lights for others. Light never turns inward; it always shines outward.

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