Luke 20:46

"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets ..."

This, or something very like it, is in all three synoptic Gospels. It reminds us we walk to Jerusalem for the Glory of God, and not so we can say we walked to Jerusalem.

Matthew 15:31

... the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

This passage and others tell us there are many, many more healings than the ones fully detailed. God is constantly at work, in the minute as well as the grand. As we walk to Jerusalem, it calls us to be alert to what God is doing around us and to respond with praise.

Mark 5:42

And immediately, the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this, they were overcome with amazement.

This is the healing of the daughter of Jairus.

In a society where women were defined almost totally as wives and mothers (Mary was not much older when she gave birth to Jesus), and the "jewishness" of a person was through the mother, the age of the girl is more than a mere parenthesis. Mark includes this as the death was occurring when she was on the cusp of adulthood. Her death would mean she would never fulfill what was [then] seen as her adult function. Jesus intervenes, and the child is able to grow up, to change from child to adult.

Jesus does the same for us. Through Jesus' intervention, we leave our own spiritual childhood behind, and become spiritual adults.

Reflections on today's work

I had a client today .......... not the first time I've seen her but she's still fairly perplexed by the energy work that I do when I work with her. She asked me at one point if I was channeling energy into her side and I said something about how I consider it just "holding the sacred space" so she can heal at her own rate with her own understanding. She was processing the pain she felt in her side and then she then asked me a question that is still making me think. She said, "is the Sacred Space where it hurts?"

I didn't know how to answer that, frankly! I think I glossed over it with some kind of healer-psycho-babble but I'm not sure. What does the pain our bodies carry tell us about the aches in our souls? What does the pain in our body tell us about our spiritual connection (or lack thereof)? As anyone in physical medicine knows, pain is a sign that something isn't right: over stretched, over worked, just plain tired. But how does our spiritual pain manifest to give us those warning signs that our psyche's and spirits are overstretched, over-worked, and just plain tired? I wonder. I know from experience, my own and helping others in their journeys that if we ignore the spiritual pain long enough it becomes physical. But I have to wonder....

So, I pose the question to all our readers:

is the Sacred Space Where it Hurts?

John 12:35

Jesus said to [his disciples, "the crowd," and "some Greeks"], "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going."

There have been times in my life I have felt as if I were walking in the darkness, and certainly times I did not know where I was going. The disciples felt this way after the crucifixion, despite, here, Jesus trying to prepare them, and even a voice from heaven supporting him.

Jesus also prepares us, to become children of light. He said - to them and us - the evidence is in and we should act on it.

Most of the people listening to him did not believe. As we walk to Jerusalem, will we?

Matthew 9.5

For which is easier, to say "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Stand up and walk?"

Which indeed. This story, the healing of a paralytic, is important enough it's found in all three synoptic gospels. The importance is not the specific healing; Jesus did a lot of healing. The importance is the faith of the persons who brought the paralytic for healing.

Jesus was calling those who witnessed the healing to the same strong faith and, as we walk to Jerusalem, he asks the same of us.

John 11.9

Jesus answered [his disciples], "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.

This is part of the Gospel reading for this upcoming Sunday, the raising of Lazarus. The disciples are trying to talk Jesus out of going to Judea, due to threats on his life. Jesus is expressing his total trust in God, and is saying his life would end when God willed it. His enemies could not shorten it.

Though we may not face such life and death issues as we walk to Jerusalem, Jesus calls us to the same total trust in God.

A Walking Song for the Next Week

BEAUTIFUL SUNSHINE

“Take…no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:34

Words: Fanny Crosby, 1901.

Music: Charles H. Gabriel

Walk in the beautiful sunshine,
Smiling so cheerful and bright,
Chasing the mist from the mountain,
Flooding the world with its light.
Hark! the sweet voice of the Master
Whispers in accents divine,
“Take thou no thought for the morrow,
Only the present is thine.”

Refrain

Walk in the beautiful sunshine,
Smiling so cheerful and bright,
Chasing the mist from the mountain,
Flooding the world with its light.

Walk in the beautiful sunshine,
Falling in waves from the skies,
Gilding the streams and the valleys,
Scatt’ring the shadows that rise.
Hear the sweet voice of the Spirit
Softly and tenderly say,
“Trust for what may be tomorrow,
Live in the joy of today.”

Refrain

Walk in the beautiful sunshine,
Jesus thy footsteps will guide;
While thou art safe in His keeping,
Evil can never betide.
Hear the sweet voice of His mercy
Kindly and lovingly say,
“God will take care of the morrow,
Be thou content with today.”

Refrain