Healing

For Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Curing and Healing

But we see the challenge to the purity system not only in the teachings of Jesus, but in many of his activities. His ministry of healing shattered the boundaries of the purity system. He touched lepers and hemorrhaging women. He entered a graveyard inhabited by a man with a "legion" of unclean spirits who lived in the vicinity of pigs, which were of course unclean animals.

John Dominic Crossan has pointed out that medical anthropology has proposed a basic distinction between curing a disease and healing an illness. Diseases are "abnormalities in the structure and function of body organs and systems." Illnesses are "experiences of disvalued changes in states of being and in social functions." A disease is between me and my doctor and I go to the doctor to be cured. But what is lacking in that picture is not just the psychological component of my disease but, much more importantly, the entire social dimension of the phenomena. How does my disease involve my family, my job, or in some cases, wider and wider levels of society? There is a difference between curing a disease and healing an illness. The leper who met Jesus had both a disease (probably psoriasis) and an illness, the personal and social stigma of uncleanness, rejection and isolation. And as long as the disease was not cured the illness also would remain. In general, if the disease was cured, the illness was healed. What, however, if the disease could not be cured but the illness could somehow be healed? Take the disease known as AIDS. A cure for the disease is absolutely desirable. But in the absence of a cure we can still heal the illness by refusing to ostracize those who have it. We can empathize with their anguish and have compassion with them by enveloping their sufferings with both respect and love.

The question which the healing miracles of Jesus raises is: Was he curing the disease through an intervention in the physical world, or was he healing the illness through an intervention in the social world? He could have been doing both. Or he could have been healing an illness without curing a disease. In his healings, whether of disease or illness or both, the important issue is that Jesus acted as a subversive of the purity world. He welcomed back into the human community those persons who were excluded from the purity society of his day. John Dominic Crossan ruminates, "It would, of course, be nice to have certain miracles available to change the physical world if we could, but it would be much more desirable to make certain changes in the social world, which we can."

- Richard Wheatcroft

Sacred Texts

Mark 1.40-44

On one occasion he was approached by a leper, who knelt before him and begged for help. "If only you will," said the man, "you can make me clean." Jesus was moved to anger; he stretched out his hand, and said, "I will; be clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was clean.

Mark 5.23-34

Along them was a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years; and in spite of long treatment from nay doctors, on which she had spent all she had, she had become worse rather than better. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak; for she said, "If I touch even his clothes, I shall be healed." And there and then the flow of blood dried up and she knew in herself that she was cured of her affliction. Aware at once that power had gone out of him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" His disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing round you and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" But he kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the women trembling with fear because she knew what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace, free from your affliction."

Discussion Questions:

1. What 'grabbed' you? What did you notice?
2. Is there a question you would like to put to any character in the story?
3. Did you have a 'feeling' reaction at any point in the story?
4. What did the passage say to you?
5. What do you think the passage says to us?
6. Summarize the passage in one sentence.

A PRAYERFUL LITANY FOR HEALING

We live in a world desperate for healing.

Brokenness touches our lives as empty spaces are created; as relationships are strained or broken;
as the reality of the fragility and finitude of human life lurks in our visual field;
as uncertainties, anxieties, and fears nest in our consciousness;
as verbal and nonverbal violence hurts individuals and communities.

In the midst of suffering, we utter these words:

“If I touch even his clothes, I shall be healed.”

God hears our cries for wholeness as we take Christ’s path, walking—sometimes being carried—and from time to time finding rest and refuge in God’s house.

At the door to God’s house, we hear these welcoming words, “You are accepted. A meal is prepared, and there are many resting places.”

Bathing in the flowing rivers of God’s abundant grace, love, and acceptance, words of calling beckon us, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” This call to mercy echoes in a rainbow of faith traditions spanning the globe. These words challenge us to see others through a lens of divine grace and to mirror that knowledge to those whose hearts are broken and lives fractured.

Caring God,

We acknowledge before you our fears, our anxieties, our doubts, our hurts, our burdens.

Transform the empty spaces in our lives into thin places through which we experience your gracious presence.

Sanctify your people that we might be for you the body of Christ in the world,
opening thin places of Divine acceptance, compassion, and justice:
communing with those who are isolated or marginalized;
opening hearts to peace and justice;
easing burdens and suffering; and
supporting those in processes of letting go.

Trusting in the hope we have in Jesus, in whose spirit we pray. Amen.

Supplemental Media:

• Listening Generously: The Medicine of Rachel Naomi Remen (Speaking of Faith)
  "Our guest's lifelong struggle with chronic illness has shaped her philosophy and practice of medicine. She speaks with us about the art of listening to patients and other physicians, the difference between curing and healing, and how our losses help us to live."
• Heart and Soul: The Integrative Medicine of Dr. Mehmet Oz (Speaking of Faith)
  "The word 'healing' means 'to make whole.' But historically, Western medicine has taken a divided view of human health. It has stressed medical treatments of biological ailments. That may be changing. Mehmet Oz, a cardiovascular surgeon, is part of a new generation of doctors who are taking medicine to new technological and spiritual frontiers."
• Patterns of Prayer (Speaking of Faith)
  "In recent years, the practices of prayer have been evolving for many religious traditions. Even western medicine is looking at prayer as it expands its concept of healing. In this program, we consult several people from a variety of practices about the role of prayer in their lives."
• Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: How Churches Can Help Soldiers and Their Families Readjust After Combat by John Morris (Speaking of Faith)
  "After the joyful, long anticipated reunions there is a difficult period of transition, readjustment, and hard work ahead for every soldier and their family. The church can be a helpful partner in the process."
• Healing Words (Velveteen Rabbi)
• Blog Posts on Health (Velveteen Rabbi)

If you have more, feel free to share them in the comments below.