THOUGHTS TO PONDER

I am writing on the feast of St Luke the apostle, a medical man by profession - Paul speaks of him as ‘our beloved Luke, the physician. It’s an opportunity to turn our thoughts to the healing ministry exercised by Luke, and to the commission to the church to’ heal the sick’ as well as to preach the Gospel.

It often seems that what grabs the headlines are the crowd-pulling claims of dramatic physical healings, but the spectrum is surely broader than that if we consider healing as everything that enables or empowers life to be lived to its fullest despite all that would diminish it. I remember a student I worked with who had a degenerative condition and was already a chair-user, when asked to find a motto to sum up the philosophy by which he lived, saying his was ‘Living life to the max’!! And he did – feisty, spirited and bright…

Many years ago, as a student in Ireland, I heard a minister, Rev Robin Eames, (now the Archbishop of Armagh), quote in a sermon; ‘ You’re either part of the world’s disease, or else you’re part of the cure.’ I’ve never forgotten his words. They are demonstrably true…

There are people, aren’t there, who make us more alive just by the quality of their friendship? One of the real strengths of St Cuthbert’s, identified by those who visit, and appreciated by those within this community, is the amount and quality of pastoral care exercised by so many within the congregation. It would be a pity if we ever took for granted the smile, the word of welcome, the gentle touch, the understanding response, the thoughtful gesture. They seem like little things, but can make the difference to someone’s day. We are the richer because that is the context for our worship… And everyone contributes to the shaping of that context…

Henri Nouwen wrote a book about ministry called ‘The Wounded Healer’, in which he explained the distinctive nature of pastoral ministry as that personal concern born of compassion and the deep awareness of the human condition shared by us all.  Contemplation helps us to know that what we see in another is also somewhere in us. Our own experience of the desert means we may understand more of the distress of others. Nouwen writes; ‘The great illusion is to think that we can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.’ Bonhoeffer, from his prison cell wrote; ’Only the suffering God can help us’. One of the most compelling things about the person of Jesus is that he gave his life away for others. He healed by his presence, his concern, his acceptance.

That resulted in miracles of healing and wholeness happening. It is just as great a miracle that we can be empowered in some small way to do likewise… 

Mary R. McMahon