You Cannot Help Others, If Your Own Soul Is Starving For Oxygen
Taken from a Red Rock News Article (9/6/24)
Rev. Dona Johnson | Sept 8, 2024
The majority of us would say we want to be well. Some of us go to great lengths to stay healthy—we eat well, exercise and try to live a balanced life. All of this is very good. But what about our emotional and spiritual well-being? How are we measuring up?
For many Christians, its counterintuitive to take care of oneself. To love God and love your neighbor means for many of us that we put ourselves out there, it means we walk an extra mile and vow to put others first. This too is very good. But in order to love God and provide loving support to others, we must be attentive and intentional about taking care of ourselves.
Jesus was at a festival in Jerusalem when he stopped by the famous pool near the Sheep Gate (John 5:1-15). Around the pool laid men who were blind, lame and paralyzed. Rumor had it that when the water was stirred, it released some sort of healing power. Jesus engaged one of the men, a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years and was never able to reach the water. One has to wonder why the man laid there by the edge of the pool for 38 years. Jesus cuts to the chase with a very penetrating question. He asks the man, “Do you want to get well?” Surprisingly, the man never answered Jesus’ question with “Yes, I want to get well?” Instead he went on to justify, make excuses and blame others for not helping him. Without reaching down to pick the man up and place him in the pool, Jesus firmly said to the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” The man stood up, took his mat, walked and immediately was healed. He could feel his legs again and life once again flowed throughout his whole body.
“Do you and I want to get well?” The question Jesus asked the paralytic man on the edge of the pool, is a question for all of us who you practice and participate in ministry. Many of us in the church, carry heavy loads, we absorb a lot from God’s people, unresolved hurts, suffering, divorce and death and this plays out in our physical well being and our emotional dynamics with others. Many people feel called by God into ministry but ignore doing the inner work it requires. On the outside, it appears that some people are functioning well, but on the inside, they are overwhelmed and emotionally depleted. As we minister and give godly counsel to others, we also need to be counseled. We need to find safe people to confess the issues that needle us and explore what triggers our anxiety in times of crisis, conflict and change. If we don’t have safe people and places to openly and honestly explore these things, we must be open and unafraid to seek help from other resources. Christian counselors, therapist and spiritual directors can be a great support to caregivers. God provides these people and their skills to aid us in ministry.
Wounded healers, as Henri Nouwen writes, “…are people who have identified the suffering in their own hearts and use that to help others. It means being absolutely vulnerable and honest with where one is emotionally and to recognize the signs of not being well.” Pastors and priests must be willing to go beyond their detached professional roles and leave themselves open as fellow human beings with the same wounds and suffering as those they serve. No one should be put on a pedestal—we are “all” in need of healing and recovery.
Prayer: Help Lord me to enter into my own brokenness, give me air to breathe and heal me of everything that afflicts me. Amen