There is too much sickness, too much brokenness, too much suffering in this time. We don’t need to look far to see those in need of healing. Our hospitals are overwhelmed; our healthcare workers are becoming burned out or are leaving. Everyone from EMS workers to counselors to custodians in healthcare settings is nearly at their limits. And, in our circles of church community, friends and family, there are many who are facing a hard journey due to medical issues and mental health concerns and so much else. And yes, we too, many of us are also feeling weary or are having places in our lives that need healing. One of the important ministries that Jesus offered was healing to many on his journeys. He offered a word of hope, a touch, an invitation and people discovered that within his presence, they could finally heal from whatever had afflicted them in their lives. Let us pray, O Holy One, Healer of our every ill, bring your healing touch to those most in need. Bless those who offer gentle care; bless those who work as support staff; bless our friends and family in need; and please bless us with healing in the places we are feeling broken. We ask this in the name of the One who came to bring healing to our world. Amen.
I’d like to invite us to share a brief meditation based on the work of our friend, Joyce Rupp, who seems to often find the right words at the right time for our inspiration. From Wounded Ones on the Road, in her book, Out of the Ordinary, she writes….
I think it is vitally important that we believe that healing is possible. We know this to be true from many of the hurts of the past. It may not always be perfect healing, or the kind of healing for which we had hoped, but healing may come. Rev. Terry Hershey writes, “Where there is a place to be seen, to be heard, to be valued, sanctuary is real, and healing happens. Healing happens when we allow ourselves to feel, fully and wholly without a need to defend, justify or explain.
Healing happens when we allow ourselves to receive love, compassion and kindness without suspicion. Healing happens when we find life without being afraid. Healing happens when we are free to embrace an extraordinary core of strength and courage that resides inside of us… and without even realizing it, let it spill to those around us.
St. Bartholomew’s once wrote, “Many of us spend our whole lives running from feelings with the mistaken belief that you cannot bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are, beyond the pain.”
And so I will close with this Blessing Prayer for Healing. I invite you to place your hands over your heart, if you wish, and to bring to mind an intention for your own healing and I invite you to hold in your heart the name of someone you know who is in need of healing as well.