Over 150 people attended the Prayer Service for National Healing and Reconciliation held at my church the Sunday before the election. Jon Meacham was our guest preacher and challenged us to remember that our country and the world has been through contentious times before, reminding us that as humans we started out by being expelled from the Garden of Eden.
One of our readings for the evening was from Mark 5:27-30: “She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
We had four prayer stations with clergy and lay ministers available so people could come forward and ask for prayers for individual healing or for healing for others. I was privileged to pray for seven people who came forward to the station I was at, asking for healing for themselves, for friends, for our country and the world.
After we had completed praying with the seventh person, I returned to my seat at the front of the church and realized how exhausted I was. I had been exhilarated at the beginning of the service, but it had been as if all the power had been drained from my hands and my mind just like the story of Jesus and the woman healed of her bleeding. I am sure that at least one of those seven people received healing that night.
In another Gospel, Matthew, Chapter 10, we hear, “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.”
If the disciples could heal, why can’t we?
We can. We can start by healing relationships with those close around us whether it is family or workgroups, or where we serve in the community or in our church. It is praying with others to heal our culture and eliminate divisiveness in our national discourse. We need to re-examine how we treat others, both those people who are like us and those who are different.
There is plenty in the world that can use healing. And it can begin with us, today, because just as with the early disciples, we have the power to heal.
Blessings, my friend,
Agatha
Hear Jon Meacham talk on his new book, THE SOUL OF AMERICA, at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 4715 Harding Rd, Nashville, 37205 on Thursday, November 15 at Noon. His talk will be in the Sanctuary of the church; there is no need to RSVP. Jon will also be available to sign books. Books are available for purchase on Amazon.com or at the church.