Living in the Spirit
August 2, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 14:13-21 

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. —Matthew 14:13-14

Because we get so caught up in the story in our scripture today regarding the feeding the masses, we may miss this excerpt about curing the sick. Jesus was a healer. While most of us could recite a list of nuisance health related complaints from sinusitis to headaches to backaches and some are dealing with more serious life impacting and limiting illnesses, we often overlook the healing of our souls. It is interesting that even science is more and more linking our physical ailments to both our mental and spiritual health. I just read in the paper yesterday that people who give of themselves live longer, more productive lives. Perhaps this whole scripture is about healing.

Yesterday, the news showed a woman protesting the care of Central American children at the Fort Sill Army Base. She did not want her tax dollars wasted in such a manner. Some in our Congressional delegations are fearful that the continued use of Fort Sill as an interim place to house these refugees might lessen its ability to train soldiers. It is my understanding the facility was selected because the dorms being used were vacant. The Oklahoma Governor is demanding that the federal government keep its projection of only using the facility for 120 days. I wondered, if our political leaders have thought what might happen to Fort Sill, if we really stopped fighting wars. The dorms are empty for a reason. Could we actually be nearing a point when we will be beating our weapons into plowshares? What would the closure of such facilities do to the economy of our state? And what better use of these facilities could we make than protecting children from the ravages of the world?

People of faith have been ministering to refugees all over the world for years. Many of the countries surrounding the fleeing people have limited resources themselves. I take great satisfaction in knowing that my country, using my tax dollars, are providing the basics of life: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care for these children and youth. People of faith are also there for them, but so is our country. People of faith are still in harm’s way in the homelands of these children working to make their country safer and more self-sustaining but in the meantime we can at the very least see that these children survive.

Prayer: Heal our souls, so fill us with your love that we cannot help but love our neighbor. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.