Christians are called
to pray for the sick. But often people continue to suffer? Perhaps it’s because
we’re praying for a cure when we should be praying for healing!
To cure
or to heal?
Tuesday night I was
invited to attend a workshop hosted by Healing Moments, which is an
advocacy program for Alzheimer’s and dementia.
The goal of the
training was to become a better caregiver for those suffering from these
diseases. Gory to God, I feel I am much better equipped now.
But one concept
really made me stop to think.
There’s a difference
between “healing” and “curing.”
We may not be able to
cure someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia, but we can heal him or her.
Healing
is wholistic
Curing is fixing the
one, specific problem. But healing encompasses the whole person: mind, body,
emotions, and spirit.
In other words,
curing is the domain of doctors, and healing is the domain of the Christian.
Healing is what we,
as Orthodox Christians, are called to do.
“Is any
among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;” (James 5:14 RSV)
Indeed, this is what
I do when I visit people in the hospitals or people who are ill. I read prayers
over them and anoint them with oil.
We are asking for
healing and it shouldn’t be confused with being cured.
After all, no matter
what, we will one day die. Cures are only temporary.
Healing
is about salvation
Christ can cure
people through prayers – don’t get me wrong – but, through our prayers, we are
asking for something much more.
We are asking for
complete healing, which is salvation and union with Christ!
Christ’s passion,
death, and resurrection is about turning the worst thing possible – our death –
into the best gift ever: birth into a new, transformed, and glorified life.
This is healing.
Listen to the words
of the prayer read by the priest over the oil:
“…sanctify
this oil, O Master, that it may bring healing to those who are anointed with
it, relief from every passion (i.e., sins), from every sickness of
flesh and spirit, and from all evil, so that your holy name may be
glorified.”
Healing is much more
than getting your illness cured.
Healing
is making a difference
A quote from Vaclav
Havel was given to us at the workshop, and I think it helps to distinguish
between healing and curing.
“Hope is
not about believing you can change things [such as curing your
disease]. Hope is believing that what you do makes a difference [such as bringing
healing to your loved one].”
Source: http://www.dustinlyon.org/?p=570
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