Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19 :26
'When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour.' Psalm 8 :3-5
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.'
I have been reading with sadness today about TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson, in the news because he was found
shoplifting in his local Tesco. It is sad when people do the wrong thing, and
it seems even sadder when they have it splattered all over the newspaper. I
know very little about him, and I can’t begin to imagine what journey has taken
him from a successful chain of restaurants to this petty crime, except to know
he must be suffering.
I can never forget that we are all flawed in some way or another , that
at times the face we show to the outside world hides a very different face
which only those closest to us see, and we would prefer others not to
know.
When Jesus came face to face with the paralyzed man who needed his
healing he knew instantly that the inability to walk was the least of this man’s
problems, that what he was faced with was not the real issue and so to the
consternation of those around him he tells the man he is forgiven, and then
asks him to take up his mat and walk.
Whatever help Anthony Worrall Thompson receives I hope it gets to the
heart of the matter and it reminds me to be more sensitive and perceptive to see what is really going on in the lives of
those around us.
'Some men
came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of
them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd,
they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then
lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he
said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”' Mark 2 :3-6
