“Healer of Our Every Ill”

Healer of our every ill, Light of each tomorrow, give us peace beyond our fear, and hope beyond our sorrow. The subject of “healing” has always been a touchy one for me. This is probably because, especially when I was a child and teenager, people would often ask if they could pray for me to be healed. Back then, and even now, this question is painful- even if well-intentioned. “Why would people want to pray for me to be healed? Just because I use a wheelchair doesn’t mean I’m broken!”, I often thought. Perhaps it has to do with stigmas about disabilities, etc., but I think about healing quite a bit differently now. Of course, we pray for healing when a person is gravely ill or injured. We’ve all seen how prayer can indeed change situations and bring people back from the brink of death. But what if we expanded our notions of what praying for healing means? We do this all of the time. We pray for the healing of relationships, broken hearts, for the healing of the brokenness of our world. We even pray that God give us understanding and healing when we don’t understand why a loved one was not healed from an illness, but died. In the midst of things we cannot understand, may we pray that God grant us healing in all parts of our lives and our world. And may we pray that God give us the help, strength and conviction to help heal bad situations around us. Healing happens in all places and forms. It’s not always easy to see where it’s happening or why it isn’t happening in the way we think it should. In those times, may we remember the One who brings us to new life, away from fear and pain, and into peace.