Those in Need of Healing
Most Friday nights I say,
If you are thinking of anyone in need of healing, mind, body, spirit or soul
Feel free to say their name out loud or in your heart as my eyes meet yours
But what does that mean. Who are those in need of healing?
I’ll get back to that.
There’s something eery about the quiet of doctors office waiting rooms
In hospitals there’s beeping and yelling
But here, on the ninth floor of this office building, it’s quiet
Like the anticipation of the end of silent prayer during services
The people around me, those souls
Are the ones I think of when we pray the Mi Shebeirach, the prayer for healing
We belong to this club
Those in Need of Healing
This club of shamed symptoms, spoonies, and unspoken solidarity
We may not know eachother’s names
But we are connected
by a web of hospital beds, IVs and “we don’t know what’s wrong with yous”
By medication side effects, muscle aches, and “you look better than you seem on paper”
There are rules for this club, just like there are for Judaism
Number One: Nobody talks in person.
At least not here.
Those in Need of Healing
We sit in silence, in prayer for ourselves and for eachother
For a diagnosis or no more new diagnoses
For no more emergency room visits and no more pain
We pray. And pray. And pray.
In waiting rooms and MRI machines
Until going to the doctor or hospital becomes like going to minyan
Hell, so many of us do it the same number of times per week or year
We are those in need of healing.
And you may not know who we are unless we tell you
We aren’t broken.
We aren’t bruised, well we may be physically, but not metaphorically.
We are warriors.
Like the Maccabees we’ll talk about in a few weeks.
We are strong.
But we shouldn’t always have to be.
And that’s where you come in.
Be kind. Choose to be kind.
To give a hug if it’s wanted.
To show that you care about the people in your life.
Be kind because you never know who is in need of healing.
