Healing the Whole Soul
Christ heals a man who is paralyzed
In Matthew, chapter 9, Jesus arrives in Capernaum, and almost as soon as he gets off the boat, a group of disciples bring over a man who is paralyzed. He can’t move, so they carry him in on a bed of some sort.
Jesus sees this poor, suffering man and knows that he has faith to be healed, but this story has a bit of a plot twist. Instead of healing him of his paralysis, he says to him, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” (Matt 9:2, New King James version (NKJ))
As is often the case, there are some scribes in the crowd with an attitude problem who overhear this and don’t like it. Jesus turns to them and says, “For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins—”
And here Jesus stops mid-sentence, turns away from the scribes and back to the paralyzed man on the bed. Then he says, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” (Matt 9:5-6 NKJ)
And this man, who had been paralyzed until that moment, stands up and walks home. (Matthew 9:1-7)
This is the healing power of Jesus Christ. Power that doesn’t just heal our bodies, but even more importantly, heals us from our sins.
When this man was paralyzed and trapped in his bed, it was obvious to everyone around him—even those grumpy scribes—that his body needed healing. But Christ saw more than a broken body and He healed his soul.
Sometimes, we don’t even know what kind of healing we need, but Christ knows us better than we know ourselves. He promises:
And if men [and women] come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. …for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make eweak things become strong unto them.
Ether 12:27
After healing this paralyzed man, Jesus went to dinner with friends. And again, there were people observing him who didn’t like what they saw. They approached his disciples and asked, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matt 9:11 NKJ)
Jesus heard them and said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” (Matt 9:12 NKJ)
Jesus Christ, the Great Physician, seeks out the company of people who are sick in some way, like all of us. We all need healing.
Sister Amy Wright of the General Primary Presidency taught that
[Christ] can heal broken relationships with God, broken relationships with others, and broken parts of ourselves.
—Sister Amy Wright, Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, Christ Heals That Which Is Broken, 2022
The Sacred Act of Wrestling
Jacob wrestles with God and heals a relationship
As we have been studying the Old Testament, we recently read the history of a family that needed healing. Jacob and his brother Esau were estranged for two decades, until Jacob felt a prompting to return to his homeland and mend the relationship.
As Jacob approached his old home, messengers informed him that Esau was coming to meet him—with a 400-man army (Geneses 32:6). Naturally, Jacob was concerned.
Let me point out here that forgiveness does not require us to put ourselves in danger. In the Abuse section of the church website, it says,
Forgiveness does not mean forgetting the offense ever occurred or pretending it never happened. It does not mean that you allow the abuse to continue. It does not mean that it is possible for all relationships to be healed. And it does not mean the offender will not be held accountable for his or her actions. It means the Savior can help you let go.
—Abuse Help: Is it possible to forgive? Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Because the healing power of forgiveness may or may not include reconciliation, we need the guidance of the Spirit to help us navigate the forgiveness process and discern how to apply it in our unique situations.
Jacob prayed and that night, he had a visitation from a mysterious messenger. Unlike other scripture stories, in which people listen to angels with reverent awe, Jacob wrestled with the messenger all night.
Reverend Emily M. Brown says:
When we hear this story, perhaps it can remind us that there is no shame in wrestling. …Faith is not some fragile knick-knack that must be carefully kept on a shelf, guarded from the elements, handled with kid gloves. God is not brittle or breakable. God can endure our questions, our doubts, our fears, our wonderings. God’s love is strong enough to persist through long dark nights of wrestling.
As he wrestled, Jacob told the messenger, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (Genesis 32:26)
The messenger said, “What is thy name?’ (Genesis 32:27)
Rabbi Neal Loevinger says:
What’s so striking about our passage is that Jacob receives a question in response to his demand for a blessing — it seems to me that the question itself is the blessing he receives.
The right question, at the right time, from the right person, can change a person’s life, enabling them to see and understand themselves in an entirely new light. When God asks a question, it’s not for the sake of an answer, but for the sake of an inner response, a change in the person.
Who am I? What is the name I have made for myself, and what is the name I am capable of achieving? Just to ask the question can move us towards a better answer — just to ask the question, and thus demonstrate our capacity for growth and introspection, is one of the greatest blessings we have as human beings.
— Rabbi Neal J. Loevinger, Why the Angel Asks Jacob His Name
It wasn’t until after the messenger left that Jacob realized, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Genesis 32:29-30)
Reverend Brown says:
Perhaps, like so many before and after him, perhaps including us, Jacob recognizes God not in the moment of wrestling, but as he reflects on his experiences.
When Jacob finally meets Esau, Esau’s reaction is completely different from what Jacob had feared.
And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him: and they wept.
Genesis 33:4
What brought about this change? Elder Neil A Maxwell said:
By itself, of course, the passage of time does not bring an automatic advance. Yet, like the prodigal son, we often need the “process of time” in order to come to our spiritual senses. (Luke 15:17.) The touching reunion of Jacob and Esau in the desert, so many years after their sibling rivalry, is a classic example. Generosity can replace animosity. Reflection can bring perception. But reflection and introspection require time. So many spiritual outcomes require saving truths to be mixed with time, forming the elixir of experience, that sovereign remedy for so many things.
—Neal A. Maxwell, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Endure It Well” General Conference April 1990
The Sacred Act of Waiting
A psalm about forgiveness
Sister Wright talks about waiting as part of the healing process.
Oftentimes we can find ourselves, like the lame beggar at the gate of the temple, patiently—or sometimes impatiently—“wait[ing] upon the Lord.” Waiting to be healed physically or emotionally. Waiting for answers that penetrate the deepest part of our hearts. Waiting for a miracle. Waiting upon the Lord can be a sacred place—a place of polishing and refining where we can come to know the Savior in a deeply personal way. Waiting upon the Lord may also be a place where we find ourselves asking, “O God, where art thou?”—a place where spiritual perseverance requires us to exercise faith in Christ by intentionally choosing Him again and again and again.
—Sister Amy Wright, Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, Christ Heals That Which Is Broken, 2022
The Psalmist wrote about the sacred act of waiting in a poem about seeking forgiveness.
Out of the adepths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. …There is aforgiveness with thee… I await for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
Psalm 130:1,4-6
This is a kind of hope we might aspire to: to expect the Lord’s forgiveness with as much confidence as we expect the sun to rise in the morning. But even as we hope, we must acknowledge that healing may be a life-long activity. Not all wounds can or will be healed during this life, and the process of healing does not always follow a neat, onward and upward trajectory. At times, we will experience relapses and setbacks. Healing is an ongoing process of wrestling and waiting.
The Sacred Act of Seeking Help
A song about mental illness
Let me tell you about some modern psalmists, composer Jolene Meredeth and lyricist Emma Lou Thayne, who wrote the hymn, Where Can I Turn for Peace? They called that hymn their “mental illness hymn” because they wrote it while Jolene was coping with a mental illness and Emma Lou was helping her daughter recover from anorexia. (History of Hymns: Where can I turn for peace?; Hope and Recovery by Emma Lou Thayne and Becky Thayne Markosian)
At the beginning of the song, they ask the kinds of questions any of us might ask when coping with mental illness or any other debilitating problem.
Where can I turn for peace?
Where is my solace when other sources cease to make me whole?
When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice, I draw myself apart, searching my soul?
Where when my aching grows, where when I languish, where in my need to know, where can I run?
Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?
Who, who can understand?
—Where can I turn for peace? Lyrics by Emma Lou Thayne and Music by Joleen G. Meredith. Hymns, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
These kinds of questions and struggles are universal, but we often feel like we are the only ones experiencing them. Only Christ can see into our souls, and it is a human tendency to compare our innermost failings with other’s most public accomplishments.
Sister Wright reminds us that this limited perspective applies even to our scripture heroes. She says:
Often the scriptures give only a small portion of someone’s life, and based on that portion, we sometimes tend to exalt or condemn. No one’s life can be understood by one magnificent moment or one regrettable public disappointment. The purpose of these scriptural accounts is to help us see that Jesus Christ was the answer then, and He is the answer now.
—Sister Amy Wright, Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, Christ Heals That Which Is Broken, 2022
In the final verse of the hymn, Where Can I Turn for Peace?, Meredeth and Thayne answer their questions, and their answer is Jesus Christ.
He, only One.
He answers privately, reaches my reaching in my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.
Gentle the peace He finds for my beseeching.
Constant He is and kind: love without end.
—Where can I turn for peace? Lyrics by Emma Lou Thayne and Music by Joleen G. Meredith. Hymns, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Christ is the Great Physician, but we should also seek out the help of qualified, earthly physicians as we seek healing. Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland taught:
Seek the advice of reputable people with certified training, professional skills, and good values. …If you had appendicitis, God would expect you to seek a priesthood blessing and get the best medical care available. So too with emotional disorders. Our Father in Heaven expects us to use all of the marvelous gifts He has provided in this glorious dispensation.
—Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Like a Broken Vessel, 2013
Sister Reyna Aburto, who was Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, adds that we share in the work of healing.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we have made a covenant with God that we “are willing to bear one another’s burdens” and “to mourn with those that mourn.” This may include becoming informed about emotional illnesses, finding resources that can help address these struggles, and ultimately bringing ourselves and others to Christ, who is the Master Healer.
—Sister Reyna Aburto, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, Thru Cloud and Sunshine, Lord, Abide with Me! 2019
Some of my favorite heroes from history were healers. Dorothea Dix was one of the first people to look at people with mental illness and see them as people in need of healing, instead of as problems to be disposed of, locked up and hidden. Her efforts led to our modern mental healthcare system. Clara Barton noticed a disconnect in how we were treating injured soldiers; providing them with medical care too late, and after a long journey that only made their condition worse. She brought medical care to the people where they were and when they needed it, right on the battlefield. Inspired people like them and many modern, human healers have advanced the Savior’s mission. I am grateful that we have professional healers to help us on our healing journeys.
The Sacred Acts of Choosing and Remembering
Christ has healing in his wings
Malachi taught that “the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings” (Malachi 4:2, NKJ) It’s a metaphor that brings to my mind images of a magnificent angel, or even a superhero, swooping in from heaven to save us.
But when Christ used this metaphor, he described himself as a humble chicken. Chickens don’t even fly! But not just any chicken—a mother hen. A mother who loves us and wants to heal us, but can only help us if we come when we are called. To the people of Jerusalem he said,
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kill[s] the prophets, and stone[s] them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
Luke 13:34
When Christ spoke to people of the Americas in the Book of Mormon, He used the same metaphor, and added to it, first reminding them,
How oft have I [already] gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.
3 Nephi 10:4
Can you remember a time when you have felt the healing power of Christ? Remembering is a sacred, healing act. Christ taught Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery that when you “desire a further witness,” the first step is to “cast your mind” back to remember the spiritual experiences you’ve already had. (D&C 6:22)
But like the people of Jerusalem, the people of the Americas had also lost opportunities to find healing under Christ’s wings, because they had chosen not to come. But they hadn’t lost their only chance. Christ also added a promise for the future.
…how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.
3 Nephi 10:6
The offer is on the table. The choice to be healed rests with us.
This is the transcript of a Sacrament Meeting talk delivered by the author in her home ward in South Jordan, Utah in June 2022.
4 Responses
Beautiful talk, April. Just yesterday I read a little of the backstory of “Where Can I Turn For Peace.” I was not familiar with the story, and it made reading the words again that much more meaningful.
Ooh, i love the connection between the majestic healing wings (which just sounds so strong) and the comfort from the mother hen.
Lovely talk. Will help me with my current RS lesson on Sister Wright’s talk. Great insights & resources. Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful reminder of healing that is available. I wish the church talked about Christ and healing more. Thank you also for sharing the background of that hymn.