When I was in seminary I completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in a hospital setting one summer. My particular assignment was on a heart specialty floor where I related to patients and families identified as CABG recipients. In the vernacular of the medical profession CABG (pronounced “cabbage” – though it has nothing to do with a vegetable) stands for Coronary Artery By-pass Graft. In other words these folks (the cabbage patients) were having heart by-pass surgery. They were on that floor due to heart trouble.
In John 14:1 Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” That was not always a good verse to share as a hospital chaplain on the CABG floor! Heart trouble had landed the occupants of that floor in those rooms. Often they were there post heart attack – perhaps the most troubled condition our hearts can physically endure.
Of course Jesus wasn’t addressing the physicality or anatomy of the human heart muscle when he shared these words in John 14:1. Continue reading
As I have studied Isaiah 35 once again this year in preparation for Advent worship, it has come to me that water is at the very center of this vision Isaiah of the Exile offers from God to God’s people. Sure, there are a lot of other pieces to this vision: a desert in bloom, the mighty forests of Lebanon and Carmel, pastures of Sharon; not to mention people being healed or restored to wholeness and a mighty and holy highway being built. But right there in the middle of it all (v.7) is the very wet and wonderful reference to water: The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs . . . even grasslands turn into wetlands. Water, water, water – water everywhere! It’s water that makes it possible for the desert to bloom, the forests to grow and pastures to flourish. Our bodies, when they are whole and functioning at their prime are over 60% water. Highways could not be built without water. Water seems to be the very central image to all of Isaiah 35. That was new to me this time around.
There is a phrase I often think of this time of the year. It’s associated with my dad in my thinking. “What do you want for Christmas, daddy?” was our childhood question. To which he almost always replied, “Peace in the valley.”
danielcash 