Jesus Healing the Sick
The first hearers of Luke’s story of Jesus would have the stories of healings and exorcisms (Luke 4:31-44) to be a normal part of life. What do they mean for us in today’s society? Is there room for healing in our faith?
In mainstream Christian traditions like Catholicism and Anglicanism faith healing has not been emphasized, perhaps reflecting modern society’s bent to prefer a scientific approach to healing. While people have always prayed for good health and blessed themselves against evil, these were “back burner” practices, not given center stage importance as Jesus did in his ministry. This attitude may be changing, however, with the recent popularity of energy medicine and notions of how energy heals in Asian traditions. These practices may become the bridges that can help westerners understand how faith healing works, and thereby open up the possibility for a more general acceptance of it.
What is Faith Healing?
As a “hands on healer” in my own church, I can see a need to educate people about faith healing. It is not “magic,” and certainly nothing to be afraid of. It is energy that flows because love desires to help someone with a need. When Jesus healed, He healed energetically. For example, in Luke 8:48 Jesus even says he felt energy go out from him as the woman with a hemorrhage sought his healing.
The Power of the Empathetic, Intuitive Heart
Modern day faith and energy healers recognize this kind of energy flow that can go from one person to another. Many take the compassionate intuitive heart to be the locus that draws and directs this healing energy to other people. This was verified for me in a dream when I saw a physician who told me that healing comes from what can be called the intuitive heart, a region he pointed out to be just above and to the left of the physical heart. Healing energy then goes out from there. From my own experience and observation I have seen that a developed sense of intuition provides an empathetic inner knowing of the other person’s state thereby initiating and inspiring an open heart to help someone who is suffering. The heart’s intentionality to help sets and directs the energy on its path.
Fran Kramer 