MONDAY, January 24 (Ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi)

Mark 5:21-43. She had endured much under many physicians.

I over-commit myself. Usually unsuccessfully, I struggle to keep my office running on time. The waiting room fills, parents become cranky, children grow restless.

One day, already far behind schedule, I brought a family in for a first visit. The signs were ominous: they brought voluminous records, having seen my kind before and “endured much under many physicians.”

I read the records they had brought, looked at the x-rays and the child, and tried not to show the sinking  feeling I had. Another desperate family searching for something I could not provide. My predecessors’ conclusions were undoubtedly correct. I had nothing to add. To tell them this today would take time I didn’t have. “God, help me”—my commonest workday prayer.

“How can I help you?” I asked. “Give us a different diagnosis.” “I can’t do that,” I said. “Then listen to our story.” Suddenly it was clear. Doctors had examined their child, run many tests, said much to them—but no one had listened. I stopped and I listened. Nothing changed for them that day: not their child, not the diagnosis, not their future. Yet it was a marvel, because for a moment we had beaten back the darkness that engulfed them by being present for one another. (1999)

PRAY for the Diocese of Luapula (Central Africa)

Ps 41, 52 * 44; Isaiah 48:1-11; Galatians 1:1-17

View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com or Oremus Bible browser.

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