Church News – October

“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.”

– Saint Augustine

Augustine was very wise regarding nature and her works, whether ordinary or extraordinary. Indeed, nature reveals her true capacity through the wonders we witness, which turn our current thinking inside out and give us new sight – or, more accurately, new insight.

Science, historically, has greatly enhanced our understanding of the workings of our bodies and our world, but often it is the observation and direct experience of nature and her miracles that reveals to us deeper potentials for healing.

Healing is a common topic these days. Applying a popular adage, one cannot walk down a street today without running into a healer of one sort or another. There are as many modalities as there are storefronts: massage, acupuncture, herbal, magnetic, yogic, crystal, essential oil, sound, color, etc. Throughout history, some of these modalities met early on with skepticism, criticism and ridicule; a few are still outliers in many health paradigms.
Conversely, natural, herbal and plant-based healing has a deep history among Indigenous peoples, is still practiced today, and continues to inform herbal and other practices.

Then there is God: The creator, the great healer. Through the prophets, through Jesus, the apostles and early Christians, and through great evangelists and healers, God healed – and continues to heal – bodies, minds and souls. Sometimes Jesus used potions or therapeutic processes (sometimes just his hands, but always with love and compassion. He heals relationships, circumstances, challenges ... he heals them all. He heals lives.

We have in our scriptural records many accounts of physical healings, which were perceived as miracles. And, I’m sure, many more that went unrecorded. In the Book of Acts, we read of the miracles performed by Jesus’ disciples. There are miraculous healings in the records of all religions. And miracles shared to this day.

Energy heals – through music, through movement, through nature, meditation, prayer, even poetry! And according to Saint Augustine, through healing nature teaches us about the infinity of possible outcomes, physical and otherwise. She teaches us just how miraculous our bodies are, how they connect us to our spirits, to heaven and to the world around us. Healing is a ministry.

It is a ministry of Christ, and of God’s people, God’s church. Through the ministries of several different modalities, our friends at Trinity experience healings in body, soul, family relationships, mental and spiritual health.

On Sunday, October 9, we will be celebrating the healing ministry of our church in our worship time. We will be singing, praying, listening, sharing, maybe even waxing poetic. Who knows?

When Covid-19 shut down our facilities and physically separated us, the healing properties of the body of Christ continued through prayer and through remote healing. And we celebrate those miracles as we prepare to re-establish a physical healing space in our building. Join us on Sunday, October 9, as we celebrate healing in many forms and experiences, and prepare to inaugurate and celebrate a ministry of healing at Trinity!