I
didn't know much about the Christian healing tradition before
I
found it alive and well, tucked away in Room 7 at St. Paul's UMC.
Intrigued (and without medical insurance), I wanted more, so I
talked to Hal Weeks. Moving away from friends and family had
been difficult, and settling in California presented a level of
stress that had taken its toll on my health. Flu, anxiety,
migraines, mysterious aches and pains, and despair, presented
many wonderful opportunities for healing. Hal suggested I attend
his prayer and healing class--what did I have to lose? Besides
any misconceptions, I thought.
So I went a few times, first
to observe, then to take a leap of faith and see what it really
was all about: I asked for healing. It is important to ask, I
learned, for healing as much as with any of God's gifts. It is
important to be sincere and come before Him with the faith of a
child.
That is when things
really started to happen!
I had been sick with a
sinus infection, miserable and achy, and I just couldn't kick
it. I approached Hal and asked for healing prayer. He put his
hand on my head and prayed. In moments, the clogged sinuses
drained--as did a sense of depression I recently had been
battling. Gone, just like that! I marveled on my walk home how
beautiful the world looked, as if I had forgotten. And I noticed
in the days and weeks that followed this small miracle that I
was getting stronger--my body, my immune defenses, my mind and
my spirit. I knew this was for real
I
soon had a chance to see how powerful God's healing Spirit is.
Firsthand, I experienced the phenomenon I had seen (with much
skepticism, I admit) performed on television so often that it
was almost cliché: falling under the power of the Holy Spirit,
bam! flat on the floor. If it was a gimmick, it was surely
rooted in something real, wasn't it? I was about to find out.
It's not just falling--what I felt was much more powerful than
that. Hal had been praying for healing for me, for some
relatively minor physical complaint. I don't even remember what
it was--but Jesus sure saw something in me that needed
attention. As we stood there, Hal's hand on my forehead, his
prayers dissolving into something unintelligible. I sensed
Something barreling toward me like a train, I could almost see
it coming. Then that "Something" hit me right in the
gut and literally threw me down. (my thanks to the person whose
hands caught my head just before the moment of impact!) There I
was, on my back, not able to move or speak. I didn't feel
heaviness; on the contrary, my body felt very empty, very light,
like a shell, but I was stuck to the floor and couldn't get up.
But I didn't want to. I had become aware of a golden glow in
front of me, formless, but if you asked me to describe it, I
would say it was like a beautiful smile. I reciprocated. Then I
started laughing. I couldn't stop, nor could I stop the tears
that, to my surprise, were streaming down my face. What a joy!
What a wonderful sense of peace had suffused my entire being!
Hal helped me to my feet and, as he steadied me, patiently
explained to the class that this was a normal reaction,
"Holy laughter" I think he called it. It certainly
was!
Later I began to
realize what had happened that evening. It came in small
recognitions--that I felt no fear, that I was more capable of
compassion. That my heart felt bigger and my eyes could see
more, and that I felt a vital, personal connection with God, as
well as gratitude most profound. As my understanding of the
transformation grew, fearlessness and compassion grew in me into
something I wanted to share, something I felt compelled to
share. It was as if, instead of struggling on footholds up a
craggy rock face, I was suddenly boosted up to the mountain top
with two feet firmly planted on the solid rock. From that place,
the next thing to do--obviously--was to help others up, to share
the power of God's love in banishing the fear that so often
cripples us, to let people know, in gestures and actions as well
as in words, that everything is all right there for you, the
love, the promises, the healing, the joy. You don't have to
struggle, you don't have to hurt. All you have to do is ask. He
will answer with a smile.
Marryann Rada |
