Last Sunday's Conversation

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Last night we engaged in conversation about Acts 3:1-10. In this passage, a man lame from birth and begging at the Temple gate called Beautiful, is healed by the power of Jesus' name spoken by Peter and John. As usual, our conversation quickly diverted to things of a broader scope.

As we discussed the significance of Peter and John "looking straight at him", the location of where he was sitting, how they helped him up and took him with them once he had been healed, and etc, we began to raise questions like, "What do we do when we pray for healing today and that person isn't healed?" Shaunna (my beautiful wife) contributed the thought that, for someone who is in fact a Christian, God's idea of healing may actually be death--in which they step into the fullness of His presence and feel no more pain.

Running with this thought, we also discovered that many times we only pray for "healing" when it profits us and happens to be a loved one--i.e., out of selfishness. I guess it's important to note that in this passage this man was most likely a total stranger. Let me take a break to say that it is obvious in the Bible that God DOES care about the healing of our loved ones (see the story of Lazarus).

Then the conversation some how took a more philosophical turn. We began to discuss what we perceive as "reality" is merely a "poor reflection" of the true and unknown reality that exists beyond this realm that we call life. Plato's allegory of the cave (used in The Republic) was brought up as well as C.S. Lewis's description of this life being merely lived in the "shadowlands" of true reality--and yes (because I finished the book yesterday), I took the opportunity to incorporate ideas and themes from the final pages of The Last Battle.

Another great week of conversation...many times, it's so much more fun to discuss and explore the written Word of God together than alone.