Healing – Page 2 – St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

On the move with Jesus.

We were on the move with Jesus these past few days!

The evening before, when we saw the 1st century grotto where Jesus must have spent time, either because it was his family’s home or his relatives, something shifted inside of me. I could see it. I could see the reality of what we spoke of in seminary as “the historical Jesus”. This was the real person who played and prayed, who visited relatives, met new people, created his own network of believers, I believe early on. I could so see, by watching our guide, who I believe must know everyone in Israel and the Palestinian Territory, how Jesus’ community formed him, in thought, and action, and love. I could imagine his mother, preparing him every step of the way to claim his particular and unique role in the human salvation story.

As a good Episcopalian (Anglican) I have found it a comfortable place to rest on the 3-legged stool (Scripture, Tradition, Reason), which freed me to uncover the truth within the scripture, without hanging my hat on the factual accuracy of each statement or story. It is true, as I have stated in my ordination vows, that I believe our scriptures contain all that is necessary for our salvation. And because I didn’t need to believe every story to be factual to contain truth, I think the reality of Jesus hadn’t been fully opened up for me, until seeing the 1st century grotto by Mary’s home. This is why I can’t wait to come home and share with you my photos and stories. I want you to capture this same glimpse of the real person of Jesus as I have! We need both, our understanding of the transcendent Christ (our risen Savior) and the earthly fully human Jesus who walked this earth, laid hands on the sick, ate meals with his cousins, aunts, and uncles, went fishing with his friends, comforted them in their sorrows, challenged their beliefs, needed times of silence and solitude, and spoke from the grotto in the hills where he preached the challenging beatitudes to an enormous crowd. I met this Jesus over the past few days.

We gathered by the river. There were fishermen there already, which made it all exactly right. We sang, “Shall we gather by the River”, renewed our baptism vows, and offered the peace to each other. It was incredibly moving to be in this space, perhaps occupied by Jesus when the dove was sent by God and ascending upon Jesus, initiating his formal time of ministry. It wasn’t a commercial site. There were no postcard stands, nor crowds pushing upon us. It was peaceful and serene. A time of real communion. That revealed to me another part of my return to the place of my resurrection: a sense of peace and communion with others.

jordan-river-betsy-water — Mother Betsy gathering water from the River Jordan.

jordan-river-2 — The calm and peaceful river.

We then went to Capernaum, where we saw Peter’s house (where Jesus healed the paralytic) and the Jewish Synagogue (where Jesus prayed and taught). It was remarkable to see the these places so integral to the ministry of Jesus.

caperneum-view-2 — Ruins of Peter’s home.

We walked down to the Mount of the Beatitudes (really a hill, not a mountain) and celebrated the Eucharist.

mount-of-beatitudes-8 — Beautiful sight with Sea of Galilee in the background.

Once again, surprising grace showed up! We were praying the Eucharistic prayer when another tour group arrived at the space. They were laughing, taking photos, moving around, apparently oblivious to the sacredness of the moment those of us gathered were trying to enter into. Then of course, I got it! They were also a part of our communion. No longer a distraction, but a reminder that church is not always to be tidy and orderly and set apart from the real people of God. Both times we celebrated the Eucharist outside, others have joined our group. Particularly on this day, it made me think of that special time, when Jesus was preaching on the mount, it must have been chaotic, there must have been other conversations going on, there must have been children playing. God sets holiness right in the midst of our everyday life, which makes our ordinary lives extraordinary. Good lesson to remember.

“Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”¹⁸And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Matthew 14:16-21.

My cup runneth over.

” ….thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” (Psalm 23)

There seems to be a common thread being woven through my pilgrimage: surrender. The word I would add today to that core reacquaintance with “the place of my resurrection” would be abundance. My cup runneth over today. Joy and light and love and hope spilled out from my soul, which had been filled to the brim and then some in the beauty and truth of God and humankind in the lost city of Petra. Words and photos cannot do justice to this magnificent expression and revelation of God.

Yesterday, I took 50 photos of dirt, today I took 50 photos of rocks!

Because with each turn inward into the city, another site was revealed that was heart-stopping and soul-lifting. What Mother Betsy and I noticed, as we were coming toward the exit of the city was that the journey in and out was actually a pilgrimage, that the path so clearly could represent one’s spiritual journey. As we traveled into the center, the landscape changed. At first we were “wowed” with the smooth, slightly shaded rocks, but only to find, as we went deeper, the landscape became more complex, more intricate, and revealed a greater beauty.

As we went deep into the city and climbed to the top of the cavern, and had our “mountain top experience”, we knew that the sights on the way out, which presumably we had seen on the way in, would look different, more alive, brighter, and more inviting. And they did. There were times we went through the dark and narrow corridors, only to find a crevice of light beckoning us forward. So it seems to be when we are in the embrace of God. The truth is that we can stop our spiritual journey anywhere along the way: just peering in at the beauty, stopping at the first moment we experience a “wow” with God, refusing to enter the dark narrow corridor, afraid there is not light beyond, or we can embrace every turn, knowing God is beckoning us further, and trust that “surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life; and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Today taught me to never fear to give it all to God, for what is received from the place of surrender is the light of the world.

Touching a piece of my resurrection

Today I found a part of what I came searching for as a pilgrim. I framed my pilgrimage in John Phillip Newell’s understanding that a pilgrimage is a return to the place of your resurrection. I learned today that the place of my resurrection involves complete surrender to God. I experienced this release and joy at the Western Wall (previously called the Wailing Wall). This is the only remaining portion of the 2nd temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Jews come here as a pilgrimage and also, it appeared today, as a regular or even daily ritual in their worship life. Often people write prayers on small slips of paper and insert them into the wall. I wrote mine, and it became a profession of my love for God ~ my complete surrender to the love which drives my life.

As Mother Betsy and I were walking toward the wall, with our head coverings on and a sense of reverence in our hearts, the image that came to my mind, heart, and soul was when Betsy and I were preparing to walk down the aisle for her ordination as a deacon, and she looked at me with wide-eyes and said, “I feel like I’m getting ready to marry Jesus!”. I replied, “Yes, Betsy, you are.”

Today, as I approached the wall, in the midst of women whose hearts were turned to the same God, I touched the wall, laying my hands and head upon the hard smooth surface, and prayed from the depths of my heart. I prayed for my family, then my parish family, then allowed prayers to float to my heart, and then I ended with a complete sense of love and union with God. Tears filled my eyes, reverence and awe filled my heart, and a peace settled into my soul, that once again, I opened the veil and lived into the vow I made in baptism and ordination, that indeed, my heart was filled with the love of God. This is a part of our resurrection, our understanding that we and our lives are completely dedicated to loving God. I feel blessed and honored to have taken my place among women of God who turn their thoughts, cares, devotion, and love to the God so present in this holy site.

We continued our journey, next to the Dome of the Rock, the site of Abraham’s potential sacrifice of Issac and the third holiest site is Islam, where Muhammed was taken on his night journey to Jerusalem. My favorite image from this place where we were clearly guests invited to honor another’s understanding of our God, was listening to a teacher chant the Koran to another, filling the air with beautiful sounds and a sense of passing along the faith.

From these two powerful experiences of witnessing other expressions of obedience and observance to the God of the three Abrahamic faiths, we came home to the Cathedral and joined in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. There is much to ponder from this day but my sense is that faith or God is not to be claimed, controlled, nor put boundaries around, but rather we are called to show respect for and appreciation for the multitude of ways God can be honored in people’s lives.

The other powerful experience for me today was going to the Church of St. Anne’s where we saw the pools of Bethsaida, where Jesus performed healing miracles. It was amazing to walk down into the lowest level excavated which contained the pools that Jesus would have seen and where he spoke to the man who had waited years to go into the pools and Jesus said, “Get up and walk”. We offered prayers and received anointing and I left with a broader awareness of the healing grace offered to us by Christ.

2016-10-30-06-30-51 — Sunrise over the city of Jerusalem

2016-10-30-06-46-13 — Prayers of devotion at Western (wailing wall)

2016-10-30-06-46-39 — Sending our prayers to God

2016-10-30-07-59-14 — Koran being taught through chant

2016-10-30-07-38-59 — Dome of the Rock- holy site of Islam

2016-10-30-08-50-05 — Anointing at St. Anne’s Church

2016-10-30-09-01-13 — Healing pools at Bethsaida

2016-10-30-11-10-08 — Holy Eucharist at St. George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem

Affirming our Healing Ministry

At St. Andrew’s, we are blessed with a number of people whose gifts include offering healing prayers to those in need of Christ’s healing love and grace. This group gathers twice a month for scripture study, prayer, reflection, and opportunities for deepening their relationship with God.

This past Sunday we celebrated the Feast Day of St. Luke, who was one of the gospel writers and also a physician. The theme of healing resonates throughout his stories of Jesus, who is always focused on drawing the poor, oppressed, and isolated people of the society into the center of his love.

At our worship yesterday, we anointed the hands of the healing ministers, saying, “May these hands be blessed to continue God’s healing work in the world.”

We also listened to and were inspired by a homily offered by Ms. Laurel White, one of our healing ministers, who speaks of the three cornerstones for healing: Holy Eucharist, healing prayers, and Confession of Sin. To learn more, please read her sermon which you can access on our website, under “Recent Sermons”.

You are all invited to join us for our meetings and become a part of our healing ministry.