"One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, 'Do you want to be well?'"
John 5:5-6
I have to admit that all the readings about water today (especially Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12) made me a bit nervous, just recently experiencing flood waters in my own home! But this Gospel touched on something else this morning as I read it. The man lying by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years reminds me of someone being stuck in the muck. I'm sure I've had grudges that have lasted at least thirty-eight years, probably even longer! It's so easy for us to get stuck in a hurt or grudge and then just stay there. It feeds something in us somehow, but that something isn't a healthy critter at all. On the surface it may seem odd that Jesus asks the guy, "Do you want to be well?" But, in reality, do we want to let go of the unsavory little illness that we cling to? Do we want to forgive the past hurt? The whatever-it-was we enjoy wallowing in? Is there a real desire in us to climb off the mat and wade into the healing waters? Jesus invites us to do just that, and this Year of Mercy seems like a perfect time to do it! Love, heidi
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