This is the second of five blogs reflecting on my trip to the Seattle area a few weeks ago.   A few days before my trip, I was meditating on the story in John 5, of the invalid laying by the pool in Bethsaida. This man has been trying to get into this pool at just the right time, in order to be healed, for over 38 years. Yet Jesus asks him, “Do you want to be healed?” Isn’t the answer obvious? I was reflecting on this question as I prepared to be the weekend retreat speaker for a church group. It occurred to me that Jesus’ question is not as shallow – or as obvious – as it seems.  On the surface level, of course, we know the man wants to be healed He’s obviously been sitting by that pool for nearly 40 years with a specific purpose in mind. Yet this question from Jesus – like many things he says – is designed to dig below the surface to deeper issues. He wants to root out our motives and attitudes. He wants us to become self-aware, and recognize whether or not ...

My shoulder ached. After a few weeks with no improvement, I thought it was time to seek some answers. A week later I found myself with the Physical Therapist scheduling regular visits. I kept hoping that one day I’d wake up and be pain free.  Don’t we all feel like that sometimes? Months went by. The shoulder continued to hurt. I wanted the truth to be different than reality. I wanted my arm to repair itself. To be whole once again without help from a surgeon! It was not to be. I needed the surgeon’s skill to remove the obstacles to recovery.  I think we face spiritual truth often with that same perspective:  Avoidance.  Denial. Procrastination.  Something is wrong in our lives, or causing pain in our hearts. It might be a relationship or a circumstance…and we want to deny the need for change. We hope the problem will go away. Or, if not, that the road to recovery will be easy. That the tension or difficulty will ease by itself....