The leaves of the tree….
All shall be well
And so our good Lord answered
to all the questions and doubts
that I might make,
saying comfortingly:
I make all things well,
I can make all things well,
I will make all things well,
and I shall make all things well;
and thou shall see thyself
that all manner of things shall be well.Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love
Last night at our semi-regular midweek healing eucharist, we gathered around the Lord’s table to worship our Savior, to pray for healing for ourselves and others, and to share in communion.
Amy told us the story of Ivan the Terrible …a sad story of a neglected child, a bereaved young husband leading to a devastating legacy of violence and evil. She then drew us into the story of Rev 21-22: where the tree of life stands in a river in the middle of the heavenly Jerusalem with its leaves which bring healing to the nations.
We prayed for our own needs, and for the needs of those we know and love, for our community and for this nation. We prayed for Orlando: for the victims, first-responders, police, journalists, neighbors and more… for people, places and situations where we long to see healing. We prayed that the Lord would staunch the wounds in that city and in that community with the leaves from the tree. That the evil actions of one would not lead to a stream of evil, but with gratitude for the actions of the son of man upon the cross which leads to a river of life where all can come to be healed.
And we wrote on our own leaves: the areas where we long for healing personally, and globally. And after we had taken communion, and received anointing we hung our leaves on a golden tree… symbolically pointing to our good Father who hears our cries and answers them.
The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev. 22:2b
Matt led us in sung worship as we called out to God for his merciful touch and then we prayed–I believe God heard and answered our prayers. We recognize that we are all mid-chapter in our stories. God is at work in and with each one of us: restoring and making new, growing our characters, forming us to look more like him. We are so grateful that restoration is on his agenda.
It was in some ways a somber evening as we confronted evil and mourned the places of hurt and pain that we are facing, but it was also a glorious evening as we rejoiced in God’s victory over sin and death; his sacrifice which leads to ultimate healing; his offer to staunch the wounds of our sin; his promise to make all things whole again.
I do hope you can join us at the next midweek healing eucharists: Sept 6, 7.30pm and then on Nov 8, 7.30pm when we will pray for the election.
~Liz Gray
