Mtr Mary Trainor

Do you want to be made well?*

Dear friends

Yesterday, I met my new primary physician. I hate when that happens. Maybe you do too? Just when you think you have figured your doctor out, and they have figured you out, too, boom. They retire. They move. Or you do. And you’re starting over, telling your story again and hope that, while they stare at a screen and input your data, they are actually listening.

I think I got quite lucky, though time will tell. But as I was recounting my medical and pharmaceutical history, answering his other questions, never did it occur to me that he might hear one of my maladies, turn from the computer, and ask: Do you want to be well?

 ***

It’s a scene straight out of John today, Chapter 5. Jesus is at a festival in Jerusalem. He finds himself at a pool where many invalids lay. One of those infirm is a man who has been ill for thirty-eight years. Jesus’ first words to him? Do you want to be made well? The man, we know, recounts the obstacles to his wellness: there’s no one to put him in the pool; and even when he tries to get himself there, people push in front of him.

He never answers Jesus’ questions directly, rather offers an account of helplessness. From that, he is made well, told to get up, walk, and carry his own mat. Observant Jews see that the man was made well, and are troubled. Were they simply shocked by the power of healing? No. They were disturbed because the healing occurred on a sabbath. They missed the point.

***

A good friend of mine, many years ago, had surgery to correct a crooked eye. People loved her, crooked eye and all. But when she was not around, asked each other, “Do you know which eye sees? I never know where to look at her when she’s speaking to me.” It had troubled all her life, knowing she was the object of gossip. Then she had the surgery. The eye alignment was nearly perfect. And she was thrilled. But her status in the gossip chain only shifted course. Now the questions were more like, “I don’t know why she went to the bother. It was okay before. Vanity.”

They may not have understood why my friend "bothered." But my friend did.

 ***

An integral part of healing may be the desire to be made well, irrespective of the opinion of others. By asking the man if he wanted to be made well, Jesus is asking him to let go of the obstacles to healing, to get up, and carry on with his life.

Mtr Mary