ANGEL TROUBLED WATERS
From Brennan Manning's
Abba's Child:
"God not only forgives and forgets our shameful deeds but even turns
their darkness into light. All things work together for those who love God,
“even,” Augustine of Hippo added, “our sins.”
Thornton Wilder’s one-act play “The Angel That Troubled the Waters,”
based on John 5:1-4, dramatizes the power of the pool of Bethesda to heal
whenever an angel stirred its waters.
A physician comes periodically to the pool hoping to be the first in
line and longing to be healed of his melancholy. The angel finally appears but
blocks the physician just as he is ready to step into the water. The angel tells
the physician to draw back, for this moment is not for him. The physician pleads
for help in a broken voice, but the angel insists that healing is not intended
for him.
The dialogue continues — and then comes the prophetic word from the
angel: “Without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy
that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and women. The
very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children on
earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of living. In Love’s
service, only wounded soldiers can serve. Physician, draw
back.”
Later, the man who enters the pool first and is healed rejoices in
his good fortune and turning to the physician says: “Please come with me. It
is only an hour to my home. My son is lost in dark thoughts. I do not understand
him and only you have ever lifted his mood. Only an hour.... There is also
my daughter: since her child died, she sits in the shadow. She will not listen
to us but she will listen to you.”
Christians who remain in hiding continue to live the lie. We deny
the reality of our sin. In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the
community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame,
our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light for others. We
cling to our bad feelings and beat ourselves with the past when what we should
do is let go. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, guilt is an idol. But when we dare to
live as forgiven men and women, we join the wounded healers and draw closer to
Jesus."
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