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| Abundant Health Forum in Manila |
A reflection shared during the 1st Pan-Asia Methodist Abundant Health Forum held in Manila.
John 10:10 … “ I came that you may have life and have it abundantly.”
I am happy to share the good news because often, I bring bad
news to the patient.
I always say that, because that
is true. The hospital is the darkest and the loneliest place on earth. It is a
place where you can see sorrow, anxiety, distress and hopelessness. People are
sick and in pain while suffering from cancer, malnourished children dying of
preventable death like dehydration or dengue fever. You have stroke patients or
heart attack patients in the ICU. You have surgical patient with neoplastic
masses if not vehicular accidents. These are just patients, these does not
include the family members who are equally worried and hopeless with the
condition of their patients.
The parents may be stressed out
where to get the finances necessary to pay the bills and to buy the medicines.
You have relatives and friends who have lost sleep and tired because they
volunteered to watch over their patients. You have loved ones who are worried
about the job of their patients. Even their own jobs and business that they
need to attend to that was disrupted by this illness. You have children who do
not know what to do if their parents will be gone. Then you have the health
workers in the facility who are so tired of their work. They not only feel
tired but feel abused and unappreciated. They feel like they are overworked but
underpaid. They have lost hope because they no other recourse and this is the
only option left they have. All they can see probably is darkness. Just like
the blind man who was standing in front of the temple. But Jesus did something
unexpected. On a Sabbath Day, Jesus healed the blind man. But it did not only
bring sight to the blind, it also opened the opportunity for the blind man to
believe in the Son of Man and become a follower of Jesus. The blind man was
offered a new lease of life… not just life but a life of abundance that only
comes from Jesus. Wouldn’t that be nice? If all those who are sick, lonely,
hopeless, imprisoned, living in the dark will find a life of abundance in
Jesus?
I often see families referred to my service for family counseling. How can I help the parents? I see cases where the father and mother are resigned to the
fact that their family is a hopeless case. Some parents have even contemplated to end
their lives because their family was going nowhere and they are dragging their kids
with them. They have lost all desires to live because all they have encountered
are problems, challenges and all the limitations life can throw at them. They
have not seen any signs of abundant grace from God. They need a miracle. Are we expecting that the
cloud will open in front of them and a bright white light will come down?
The hospital should be a place of
hope because hopeless people go to that place. They need hope. Any place of
healing and restoration should be a place of hope and life. Jesus is our hope. Jesus
can give us life. And Christians should be able to reflect the hope and the
life that comes from Christ. When we minister to the sick and the dying are we
just able to address their physical ailments without restoring their mental,
spiritual health? We provide holistic healing of the mind, body and spirit just
like Jesus did. We offer them life, the life Christ offered. For we are
instruments of Christ healing. Simple miracles can happen everyday.
I remember when I was a resident
physician in Mary Johnston Hospital. Before we bring the patient to the
operating room for a surgical procedure. We talk to the family and the patient
and explain what will happen. This helps allay their fears and anxiety. We
prepare them mentally. Not only that, together with the nurses, we pray with
the patient and the family. The prayer calms their soul. They appreciate that a
lot. We do that because we recognize that we are mere instruments of God’s
healing ministry – the healing of the body, the mind and the soul.
Jesus promised us life and a life
in abundance. That life does not only mean adding more years to it, adding more
meaning to it or adding more importance to it. That life becomes abundant
because Christ offers us hope, peace and joy. In our healing ministries, we
open the door that is Christ for people to see the abundant life. As Christians,
we are called to bring this good news that is Jesus Christ to every corners of
the world. Let us be faithful in our calling, let us bring healing in this broken
world. Let us continue to share the life of abundance that we all have found in
Jesus Christ.
