DAILY BYTE
This story never makes it clear, perhaps purposely, that this man actually was physically paralysed. We just tend to assume that as we read it. We aren’t told whether he was physically paralysed, or whether it was his inner turmoil that slowly wasted the life out of his limbs and soul over the course of 38 years.
As we stop and look at this story more carefully however, it really does seem to be his pool of tears that was defining him, and holding him back from entering into life fully. It was his pool of tears that was paralysing him both body and soul.
For that’s what pain does to us when we ignore it – when we don’t properly attend to it.
Are you really ready to say goodbye to your pain? Do you really want to take responsibility for it, face it head on and make the changes you need to make? Do you want to be made well?
Perhaps that question is not as obvious as we first think.
People of the day used to believe that an angel used to stir the water of this pool every now and again, and that the first person to get into it would be healed. We know now that the actual stirring was caused by underground springs, but what really fascinates me is how this man was in the totally wrong place for his healing.
There are no magic pools, no magic pills and no quick fixes to pain. There is only the long, hard road of healing.
The story is told of a busy Californian church in the 70’s which had a wonderful preacher. Several people in this church were torn between wanting to be at church to hear their preacher, and wanting to get out and about for the day – surfing or playing golf or whatever it is that Californians like to do. So they started to pay someone to sit in their place for them with a tape recorder and tape the sermon, meaning that they could then listen to it at their leisure.
More and more people started to do this until the preacher cottoned on. He thought the whole situation was little unfair so he decided to install a tape recorder in the pulpit which would then play back the sermon. This meant that he could also get out and about on a Sunday. Apparently, this marked the very first instance of a procedure now termed ‘Artificial Insermonation.’
In terms of dealing with pain, and finding hope and healing in our relationship with God, there are just no quick fixes, no artificial and easy ways to get it done. The way to move through it is not around it, nor to push it away, and certainly not to pretend that it isn’t there. Rather it is one step at a time, one day at a time.
If we truly want healing and to be made well, then we will find the words that Hans Kung once penned to read so true:
“God’s love does not protect us from suffering, God’s love protects us in the midst of suffering.”
PRAY AS YOU GO
Gracious God, may you help me to have the strength to undertake the long and sometimes hard road of healing – give me the patience and persistence I need to take it one step and one day at a time. Amen.
FOCUS READING
John 5:7 NRSV
The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.”
