I am a rather morose sort. I have always felt a fondness for those biblical tales in which some prophet at the end of their rope will sit under a tree in the wilderness and wish they were dead.
Old Elijah is one of these. He stands up against the brutal machinery of the state, he campaigns against its tyranny. He lives in the outlands, an impoverished refugee. He has known dreadful violence; he has blood on his hands. He has become an enemy of the powerful and a fugitive on the run.
Finally, he despairs of either winning or losing the good fight. He is empty and ruinous and cannot see the reason in any of it. “It is enough,” he says. “Take away my life for I am no better than my ancestors.” And there, under the tree, he falls asleep.
He is awoken a little later by a touch to the shoulder. An angel has baked him something to eat over the hot stones of the desert and brought him a jug of water. “Get up and eat,” they say, “otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”
I have always been struck that this angel has no answer to old Elijah’s plight. His broken body and sick heart are not healed. Whatever healing there may be will only come with time: forty days and nights, as per the traditional hebraic numerology. It is a journey of time that his brokenness must undergo to be well again, not the magic touch of a heavenly being.
The angel sees this. It is their task to make the healing journey of time possible. The angel hosts and sustains the broken body who must make the journey; feeds him cakes and brings him water. The good work of time cannot occur if he wilts under the tree. He must stay alive in order to walk with the God of time.
I write this amid days spent lying on the floor with back pain. It gradually eases, much slower than I would like. What do I need to sustain me over the healing journey of time? And what can I bring to the other, to care for them as they undergo the healing journey of their own? To whom shall I bring a jug of water and fresh cakes?
Share your thoughts
What thoughts and reflections surfaced for you as you read this thoughtful piece by David Benjamin Blower?
If you wish, share your comments in the space below.
God heals in His own time but we are His hands and feet. We sustain someone, keep them going, help carry their cross for a little while like Simon the Cyrenian. Like it says in Isaiah, if God has so blessed you, “to sustain the weary with a word.”
Thank you Glyn
Absolutely, Glyn, thank you.
This reflection speaks right to my chaplaincy work, sitting with those soon to be bereaved or ministering to the grief-stricken. In David’s words I see another theological aspect of my privileged calling. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing David, I am glad to hear how this reflection supports your vocation
Whatever happened to the idea of convalescence?
We hope for instantaneous healing but there is so much blessing to be found in the rest and recuperation of our bodies if we allow for that.
Lord grant us patience 🙏🏻
Amen to that, Margaret – waiting requires patience indeed.
Yesterday I got the all clear from my GP after two months of (respiratory) illness. And, the green light to return to Hospital Chaplaincy. At times I have not been a very ‘patient patient’ and I have realised that God has used this time to teach me a lot of new things about HIM and myself too! Thank you for this Advent journey. So much speaks in to my heart.
Thank you for sharing Janet, and I am glad you are recovering from your illness and are able to continue your chaplaincy work
Interesting as I am reading a book “Elijah” written by Suzanne Owen a chaplain at Crowhurst Christian Healing Centre which is excellent,
a great book on healing I recommend it. Also at present reading Bishop Guli Francis-Dehaqani ‘s book for this Advent called Listening to the Music of the Soul and this weeks chapter was about Angels!
Thank you, Sheila, what a beautiful weaving together of themes! Thanks for the recommendations too.