Healed in a blink

I’m sure the editors at the Upper Room spend lots of time figuring out the cover for the magazine. The magazine prints six times during the course of a year.

That’s not as stressful as figuring out the cover every week for a news magazine, but I know the editors work diligently to find the right piece of art.

The July/August 2024 edition has found me staring into that cover quite a bit. British artist, Arthur A. Dixon, depicts Jesus healing a blind man.

On page two of the magazine, the editors offer an interpretation of the cover. The interpreter attempts to give the reader a few things to ponder about the work of the artist.

The interpreter, Nancy Cason, references the movement in the scene. Jesus’s fingertips gently moving toward the closed eyes of the blind man. She uses the words—“loving, compassionate, and gentle healer who is just and merciful,” to describe Jesus.

When I view this beautiful painting, the impatient, whiner, grumbler that I am, forms this question—“Hey Jesus, where is your loving, compassionate, just and merciful, gentle healing today?”

Jesus, in case you haven’t noticed, we are a hurting world. Where is your touch, your instantaneous touch that in a blink changes a life for the good?

Perhaps, this verse from John Chapter 6 was written for me: “Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves.’

I’m among the complainers. I want to advocate for those who need the instantaneous touch of Jesus.

Usually when I take the time to ride the exercise bike in our basement, I will listen to a recent broadcast from the National Public Radio Show Fresh Air. I respect the interview format of this program because I always learn something from the moderator and the guest.

On the morning of August 5, I listened to host Terry Gross interview Dr. Theodore Swartz, a neurosurgeon. Dr. Swartz has written a new book: “Gray Matters: A Biography Of Brain Surgery.”

The interview was fascinating. Yes, I was a bit squeamish at times, but fascinating.

This was especially true in terms of how the medical science for helping people with brain injuries and illnesses has changed. The surgical techniques and procedures have continued to evolve and change for the good.

I learned how sensitive the brain is. Despite its tough skull, in a blink, our skulls can be damaged in ways that no one might anticipate.

A neurosurgeon must be in good mental and physical shape when performing surgery. Surgeries can last six to eight hours— with no restroom breaks or stops for refreshments. And most critical, the neurosurgeon is required to have steady hands at all times.

And perhaps like Jesus, “neurosurgeons have a unique window into the human condition.”

It is our human condition that makes my sleep restless some nights.

I imagine that Jesus and neurosurgeons have restless or almost sleepless nights too.

Can weary and fragile human beings continue to endure unbearable and relentless trauma? Especially in world that appears at times to have lost its compassion and ability to think in reasonable and rational ways.

And I keep coming back to the cover of the Upper Room. I see the right hand of Jesus reaching to touch the closed eyes of the blindman, and in a blink he is healed.

In his own remarkable way, Dr. Swartz has the capacity to heal. His surgical skills are similar to the touch of Jesus. While not always immediate, Dr. Swartz’s touch can save and improve the quality of lives.

For my old brain, I’m always going to wrestle with the blink found in the instant touch of Jesus.

And unseen, unknown to me is that somewhere today, in the most desperate of situations, the instant touch of Jesus will arrive in a blink.

Why is that?

How does Jesus choose when to appear and save?

I wonder if anyone has the metrics on unexplainable medical miracles?

In the same way, I believe that the healing touch of Jesus can be working through other people like Dr. Swartz.

In the magazine The Week, I recently read about Lewis H. Lapham. Mr. Lapham was a columnist and editor. From 1971 to 2006, Mr. Lapham’s leadership was dedicated to Harper’s magazine. Mr. Lapham recently passed away, and this article was a recapping of his career and life.

I was drawn to this quote from Mr. Lapham: “The hope of social or political change stems from language that induces a change of heart. That’s the power of words, and that’s a different power than the power of the internet.”

Jesus had no internet.

No his power came from his words, his compassion, his movement, his ability to teach, and from his heart.

Changing hearts in this world today doesn’t happen in a blink.

But, we can’t give up on the hope in our hearts.

With the right words, that hope can cause a person to blink, and change for the good.