<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">A very rough draft of a reflection for tomorrow based on the story of Naaman, with many thanks to Kathryn Matthews and The Rev. Jazzy Bostock for their thoughts and inspiration. It seemed an appropriate story to focus on given that our hospital chapel service will be broadcast over hospital radio tomorrow. Comments and suggestions for improvement welcome. <br></span></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><br></span></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Allison Cline-Dean,</span></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Lead Chaplain,</span></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust,</span></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Based at Colchester Hospital, Colchester, Essex, UK<br></span></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><br></span></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>What do you think of when you hear the
word “conversation”?<span> </span>Meeting up with an
old friend and catching up for several hours over a meal or coffee?<span> </span>A heart-to-heart talk with a partner about
future plans?<span> </span>Hearing difficult news
and speaking with the individual about it?<span>
</span>Possibly a conversation with a child about an “out of the mouth of babes”
statement?<span> </span><span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>As I read the readings for this week,
the one thing that struck me were the conversations and the people involved
ranging from servants to kings to missionaries to Jesus and everyone else in
between.<span> </span>Yet the common thread through
these conversations is the peace, grace, and healing received because of the
actions of people who had no power but had the courage to initiate a conversation.<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">This really hits home in our Old Testament story about Naaman.<span> </span>The “seemingly” powerful people in the story
are all named:<span> </span>Naaman, the two kings,
and the prophet, Elisha.<span> </span>They are, according
to Kathryn Matthews “Big Men in the eyes of the world; even Elisha, who mostly
just sends messages here, is a "man of God." <span> </span>But the dramatic story of healing wouldn't
happen if the "little people," the unnamed ones, didn't move things
along.”<span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"> </span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Naaman was a mighty general with many riches and people to command,
however he probably felt quite vulnerable.<span>
</span>Barbara Brown-Taylor states the <span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"> </span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">in the simplest of everyday encounters, when his success and fame
and power meant very little before the awkward discomfort of someone who might
not want to shake his hand or stare too long at his disfigurement<span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"> </span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">all because of his skin disease which the story calls “leprosy.<span> </span>He has probably spent time and money trying
to find a cure for his disease but to no effect.<span> </span>Yet the king still has confidence in him and
so Naaman continues to lead the king’s forces.<span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"> </span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">The Rev. Jazzy Bostock writes <span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"> </span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>As part of
his career as a commander in the army, Naaman has a slave girl – a girl whom he
had captured and stolen on one of his raids. <span> </span>This girl, who has been taken from her
hometown, becomes the catalyst for his healing. <span> </span>She is a servant to Naaman’s wife, and she
sees the pain the couple is experiencing. <span> </span>She sees the effect, the hold, that this
illness has on his life, and she suggests something to her mistress. <span> </span>She shares the information, the experience she
has had, with the prophet in Samaria. <span> </span>She
posits that this prophet has the capacity to heal Naaman.<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>Just one small conversation between a slave and her mistress sets off a
sequence of events that lead to the healing of Naaman.<span> </span>It probably took several lengthy conversations
between Naaman and his wife before he decided to go to his king, the King of
Aram, to seek permission to go and see if he could be healed by Elisha.<span> </span>The letter received from the king is then
taken by Naaman to the King of Israel who panics until he receives word from
Elisha asking the King to send Naaman to him so that he can heal him.<span> </span>Naaman goes to Elisha who sends out a servant
with the words of instruction for healing - to literally “go jump in the river
Jordan seven times”.<span> </span>Naaman takes
offence at not being told to do some great act yet it is his un-named servants
who persuade him to follow the prophet Elisha’s instructions.<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>So many conversations with so many people yet each person in this story
had a role in the miracle which results in Naaman’s healing.<span> </span>All of us have experienced being close to
someone who is ill and the resulting suffering of not just that person but the
family and friends who care about that person.<span>
</span>When we experience the illness of someone we care about we look for
answers from doctors and nurses who are supposed to bring about the miracle of
healing so we don’t lose our grandfather, mother, brother, aunt.<span> </span>Yet there will be times when things don’t
work out the way we hope and we have to look at next steps and make very
difficult decisions in an acknowledgement of what will happen.<span> </span><span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>There will be many difficult conversations to be held with medical
professionals, possibly faith leaders/chaplains, as well as family members and
potentially legal representatives. <span> </span>Even
though the conversations may difficult, there will be small glimmers of gold as
words of hope and healing are spoken that give peace of mind and peace of
spirit.<span> </span>Words that will continue to live
on in our hearts and minds as we experience Christ’s peace in our lives knowing
that we are a beloved child of God, in spite of the illness and potentially
disfigurement due to treatment.<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>When I look at the story of Naaman I wonder what would have happened of
his wife’s little Jewish servant girl had kept silent and not shared her
knowledge.<span> </span>I wonder what would have
happened if Naaman’s wife had not initiated her conversation with Naaman or
what would have happened if Naaman’s servant had not persuaded him to go bathe
in the river Jordan.<span> </span>So I invite you to
re-read the story of Naaman today or later in the week and consider which character
you identify with.<span> </span>The Rev. Jazzy Bostock
gives us these ideas to ponder:<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>Maybe you
can identify with Naaman – frustrated that the miracle you were looking for
isn’t what you expected. If so, we pray that your eyes might be opened to the
gift that is being offered to you, even if it looks unusual.<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>Maybe you
can identify with the King of Israel – not sure what you are supposed to do
about a situation. If so, we pray that you see the community surrounding you
and know that you are not alone.<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>Maybe you
can identify with the King of Aram – putting the power you have behind a
person, trying to use your influence for good. If so, we pray that you give
what you are able and then release the problem.<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>Maybe you
can identify with one of the messengers – along for the journey, bearing
witness to the dynamics of a big cast of characters. If so, we pray that you
would prompt them along their way – to offer words and actions of
encouragement.<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>Maybe you
can identify with one of the women – beginning conversations about something
delicate, wanting to offer the knowledge you have. If so, we pray that you
would be gifted with patience and discernment, choosing when and how to have
hard conversations.<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>Maybe you
can even identify with Elisha – holding the words of healing that someone else
is looking for. If so, we pray you would recognize those words for what they
are and be bold in sharing them.<span></span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></span></font></p><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;text-align:left"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span>As children created and loved by God I pray that each of us see ourselves
somewhere in this story knowing that we are not alone in whatever we may be
struggling with.<span> </span>I pray that the right
people will come alongside and walk with us at the right moment bringing with
them compassion, respect, hope and good listening skills. <span> </span>I pray that our hearts, minds, and spirits
will be open to where God might be leading each of us in sharing the peace and
light of Christ and God’s Kingdom in the conversations each of us will have
this week and I pray that those conversations may transform how others see
themselves and those around them.<span> </span>May
each of us have the courage and compassion of Naaman’s wife servant girl, so
that we can share </span><span>the word that, in Jesus, God’s kingdom
has indeed drawn near bringing hope and healing to each person we meet as we
become channels of Christ’s love and peace.<span>
</span>Thanks be to God.</span><span><span></span></span></span></font></p>
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