Meditations for Lent - #27
On this day of Lent the suggested Gospel reading is John 5:1-16 which is another of the stories about Jesus healing the sick. This story takes places near the pool in Jerusalem which, when stirred up by an angel, is said to be healing. Jesus goes up to one man lying on his bed and asks, “Will thou be made whole?” “Will you be healed?” The man answers that he has been physically unable without help to get in the pool while the water was still stirred up. Jesus then tells him to, “Rise, take up thy bed and walk.” The man was immediately able to do just that. Some of the religious folks then complained that it was unlawful to carry one’s bed or otherwise work on the sabbath.
We are not Jesus and we cannot heal ourselves and others by just pronouncing someone well. Soon I will leave to work for/with individuals at an addiction treatment center. I and other staff members will ask, “Are you ready to heal/recover? Are you ready to surrender to the tough work of learning to change the habits of thinking and behavior which feed the addiction? Are you ready to take some “good, orderly advice” – to trust the God of your understanding to give you the strength and willingness to do this work?
Some may say to that same addict, “This is the only way to do recovery. These are the rules.” Some of us think that there are only prescribed ways to work a spiritual program. There are many who are sure that there is one right way to do every job; that there is the right set of religious rules. One of the aspects of the 12-step program I respect is “the only requirement for membership is the desire to stop the addictive behavior.” Clearly, if one is going to be successful in claiming or reclaiming “a new way of living” one must practice the principles of the HOW – honestly, open mindedness and willingness. No one in the program can tell one what spiritual or religious base to use, but one has to do the work.
I recently heard Jessica Lynch, the former POW talk about the process of regaining her physical and emotional health – of learning to retrain her legs and other parts of her body. Reclaiming her life demanded enduring a lot of painful, tough, days; months and months of hard work. First she has to have a desire to get well, be open minded to the medical team working with her, be honest about what she was doing or not doing and be willing to do the hard work.
There are no short cuts to doing the work of spiritual growth. Sadly, many of us spend more energy thinking about and avoiding the work then we would spend just doing the work.
Do we want to grow? Are we ready to surrender to the God of our understanding? Are we ready to pick up our bed and walk toward the light? Are we ready to quit looking for shortcuts; for the magical pill which makes growth easy? Lying there on the bed whining about everyone getting to the pool prior to one is not going to lead to healing. Jesus is perfectly willing to allow the man who had been ill to continue lying there. He asks him, “Wilt thou be made whole? Are you ready to surrender? Are you ready to do the hard work of learning to walk again?
Daily we must all answer these questions. If we are not ready the god of our understanding will honor our choice. We and our loved ones must live with the consequences of that decision.
Written April 2,2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
On this day of Lent the suggested Gospel reading is John 5:1-16 which is another of the stories about Jesus healing the sick. This story takes places near the pool in Jerusalem which, when stirred up by an angel, is said to be healing. Jesus goes up to one man lying on his bed and asks, “Will thou be made whole?” “Will you be healed?” The man answers that he has been physically unable without help to get in the pool while the water was still stirred up. Jesus then tells him to, “Rise, take up thy bed and walk.” The man was immediately able to do just that. Some of the religious folks then complained that it was unlawful to carry one’s bed or otherwise work on the sabbath.
We are not Jesus and we cannot heal ourselves and others by just pronouncing someone well. Soon I will leave to work for/with individuals at an addiction treatment center. I and other staff members will ask, “Are you ready to heal/recover? Are you ready to surrender to the tough work of learning to change the habits of thinking and behavior which feed the addiction? Are you ready to take some “good, orderly advice” – to trust the God of your understanding to give you the strength and willingness to do this work?
Some may say to that same addict, “This is the only way to do recovery. These are the rules.” Some of us think that there are only prescribed ways to work a spiritual program. There are many who are sure that there is one right way to do every job; that there is the right set of religious rules. One of the aspects of the 12-step program I respect is “the only requirement for membership is the desire to stop the addictive behavior.” Clearly, if one is going to be successful in claiming or reclaiming “a new way of living” one must practice the principles of the HOW – honestly, open mindedness and willingness. No one in the program can tell one what spiritual or religious base to use, but one has to do the work.
I recently heard Jessica Lynch, the former POW talk about the process of regaining her physical and emotional health – of learning to retrain her legs and other parts of her body. Reclaiming her life demanded enduring a lot of painful, tough, days; months and months of hard work. First she has to have a desire to get well, be open minded to the medical team working with her, be honest about what she was doing or not doing and be willing to do the hard work.
There are no short cuts to doing the work of spiritual growth. Sadly, many of us spend more energy thinking about and avoiding the work then we would spend just doing the work.
Do we want to grow? Are we ready to surrender to the God of our understanding? Are we ready to pick up our bed and walk toward the light? Are we ready to quit looking for shortcuts; for the magical pill which makes growth easy? Lying there on the bed whining about everyone getting to the pool prior to one is not going to lead to healing. Jesus is perfectly willing to allow the man who had been ill to continue lying there. He asks him, “Wilt thou be made whole? Are you ready to surrender? Are you ready to do the hard work of learning to walk again?
Daily we must all answer these questions. If we are not ready the god of our understanding will honor our choice. We and our loved ones must live with the consequences of that decision.
Written April 2,2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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