Day 14 of Lent

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“When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized Jesus, and rushed about that whole region to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.
And wherever he went… all who touched him were healed.”
~Mark 6:54-56


“A Recognition” by Scott Bolin
In 2007, I was part of a very significant achievement professionally and thought that I and those working with me had accomplished exactly what we were meant to do in the wake of a very tragic set of circumstances.  Upon having achieved the desired outcome, I was personally elated and relieved.  However, that elation was short-lived. 
What I thought to have been a heavy burden being lifted off of me, came crashing right back down on me after my team finished patting ourselves on the back for the "good work" we had done.  I had been working in and around a very dark situation.  The truth is that I wasn't mature enough to understand that the outcome was not about making me feel better, but rather seeing the light of God break through the hardships and darkness, healing those that had been hurt and shining a light on the Good that is ever-present in our world. 
In short, the outcome that I thought would make me feel better, was not about me! 
As I was left wondering why I was still burdened by the situation, it was two brothers in Christ that were there to help me.  Faithfully they prodded me to the point where I began to understand that I was not put in that situation to solve it for myself to receive praise and adulation for a job well done.  Rather, I was there to help solve a problem so that others might emerge from tragic situations closer to God and not so damaged and distraught. 

I think about the masses who are healed in today’s passage—and think back to the verse from Mark 2:17  where Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." ...and I recognize that I am a prideful person who is "sick" and in need of the Doctor!  I am the sinner who wholly recognizes that Christ is the Way, yet defiantly still tries to accomplish goals on my own!  My journey to the Cross is young, but by His Grace and Mercy, it is moving forward.


 




Prayer:
Jesus, touch our hearts.
Walk across the surface of our lives and bring us into deeper relationships with you and others. Heal us from the sins of selfishness and make us new.
You alone are God.
Amen.

("Come Ye Sinners" by Fernando Ortega)

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