The Faith of Friends

In the New Testament there is a story of a paralytic seeking to be healed by Jesus. Being paralyzed, he could not walk to the gathering where Jesus taught, so he was carried on a heavy rug by four friends. They came toward the house where Jesus was teaching, surrounded by Pharisees and teachers of all kinds, and saw that the crowd was too great and too thick for them to pass through into the house. So the friends and the paralyzed man, instead of giving up, decided to climb the rough stairs around the outside of the house (carrying the man on the rug, remember), cut a hole in the roof, and lower the paralyzed man into the room where Jesus was teaching. (This story is in Matthew, Mark and Luke, but I am primarily working from the version in Luke 5:17 - 26).

Imagine how many things could have gone wrong. The paralyzed man could have slipped off the rug at any point on the way up the stairs, or the one of his friends could have dropped a corner, or fallen himself. Their act of faith was rebellious and risky and profound. As luck would have it, they were successful. The paralyzed man was safely lowered to Jesus amidst the shocked faces of the learned and well-to-do. When Jesus saw the efforts and the faith of the four men and the paralytic he said, "Because of the faith of your friends, your sins are forgiven you" (Luke 5:20). The paralyzed man was then cured physically as well as spiritually, and the entire crowd proclaimed over the miracle that they had witnessed.

Though healing is certainly a great thing, having faithful and determined and persistent friends is similarly miraculous. In my journey to health I have been held on my 'rug' by a cadre of faithful friends. At certain dark times I had no faith myself, but could only rest in the hope and determination of others.  As it happens, I did not remember this Bible story; during one dark week when I could barely move from the couch I heard the story from a friend, who promised to have faith for me and to organize others to help feed me and the family. Two days later I heard it on the radio on the way back from visiting a friend who heals with cranio sacral massage. Then last week, as the crisis was passing, yet another dear friend emailed me about the verses as she prepared for Sunday mass.

There are no coincidences; the universe has blessed me with faithful friends and family and through them and through you I am healing. Thank you for having faith when I had none, thank you for carrying me with prayer and compassion. This verse sums it up for me: "Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "we have seen strange things today.'"  (Luke 5:26)