here is where it begins

Hi Friends,
So....tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning the seminar begins. I have spent the day - I think my internal clock is just about in sync with life here - praying and sewing (the two activities can work together remarkably well!) - going over notes from the second and third morning, and finishing off preparation for the Friday evening. That is what I will spend the rest of the day doing as well. Conversing with my thoughts and praying as I set them deep within me.

But tomorrow is the first morning, the first day of the seminar that I have prepared, and this day of teaching is searing a hole in my heart. It is the large picture of Healing, one that addresses some of our fears, stereotypes and the unknown of who God is, and what God is on about.

So last night (and I am not changing the subject!) I was invited for dinner with Amanda and her whole extended family. It was a lovely evening, and I felt very welcomed and at home with the 10 of us around the table - I sat watching and noticing how similar the family interactions were to what I see at home in Vancouver. (Well household, ( and I include myself in this word!) almost - this table was maybe a little more -could I use the word 'courteous?) (Remember, I am laughing as I say this!!)

Daniel, Amanda's elder brother, is a very accomplished doctor working with lung disease and well-known in his field, and it was so interesting to hear his stories and questions around 'healing' as opposed to 'being cured'. He has thought often and long about this from a faith as well as a medical perspective. He asked me how I was going to start to teach about healing, and I said that I was going to start at the place of 'death'. His response was that of surprise and his first comment was "Chinese people do not like to talk about death." And my heart response was 'God, what are you getting me into?' And what rose up in me was both the thought of starting in such a difficult place and at the same time feeling so strongly that this is the place to start.

I want to say - Death is not the end of the story, it is not where we are headed, for those of us who believe - it is where we are now! It is the valley of the shadow that we live in now - Jesus has come into the darkness that is already here - and the darkness has not overcome his light! And the practice of upside-down kingdom, that of putting to death the sin that reigns in us, through the decisive and on-going transformative gift of Jesus - teaches us how not to be afraid of death. We are headed toward wholeness; because death has lost its sting, we can face death in every way and not be held by it or overcome. This is where healing is to be found - spiritually, physically, emotionally - and healing is the effect of the work of shalom or peace within us and through us to the world. I want to talk about what Jesus speaks upon coming to meet Martha when Lazarus has died - when he says, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." There is great mystery here, and it is our inheritance.

Oh, I am my father's daughter ! (Dad, I am going to talk about you tomorrow, just in case you feel your ears burning!) - and how I want to be able to share this good news - because it is in the place of death that I have learned to receive healing through Christ. Christ is the antidote to every kind of death. This gives me such confidence and trust to pray for healing.

Okay, I will not try to say in one paragraph what we will be taking three hours and then five days to chew on. But, I am writing this, because I want you to know where I am starting.
Most of you will be reading this on your Monday morning which will be the middle of the night here before my Tuesday morning. Please carry me and this group of us together throughout the day in prayer, and especially pray that I will be sensitive to the words of the spirit in this teaching, and to the hearts of all who are listening. Pray for grace as we make our way together. I feel strongly that this way is the way I am being asked to begin, a way that will break open the truth of where we stand - fears and all - so that together we can look for the healing hand of God extended to us through Jesus and by his Spirit. And I also feel strongly that this is shocking news - good shocking, but shocking, non-the-less. I pray for gentleness of spirit and a patience that does not look for a push (from the labourer) when it is not time. (There was one point last month when I even considered asking God to send Paul (from Tarsus)- who has had a lot more practice in sharing this teaching! :-) But that was last month! and I am a doula, after all! ).

Okay, enough for this day - I am well physically, and it is with a sense of expectation and hope - with a little salt of nervous anticipation - that I look forward to tomorrow.
Much love,
Peace,
Mary