The Healing Shawl
But unto you that fear
my name
shall the Sun of
righteousness arise
with healing in his
wings;
and ye shall go forth,
and grow up as calves
of the stall.
— Malachi 4:2
In the last chapter of the last book
of the Old Testament, I love the prediction of Jesus coming "with healing in
his wings." To me, He's a mighty eagle of light and power, wrapping His
magnificent wings around you. They're light and warm, and under that sure,
strong protection, you can feel good again . . . well again.
Right now, I know several people
battling tough situations who need to feel those wings in a big way:
One with an aggressive cancer has a
"moment of truth" meeting with doctors this week.
Another was supposed to have a big
operation this month, but it got postponed.
There's a teenager who had cadaver
bone put into her leg last week after a cancerous part was cut out, and another
one whose brother suddenly killed himself.
Oh, Savior, arise and fly to these
dear people. Cover them with Your wings. Wrap them up and heal them, Lord. They
need You so.
Somehow, writing my wishes and
prayers to them in a card just seemed empty. I wracked my brain for something
in 3-D . . . something to point them to the promise, that the healing comfort
of an all-knowing, all-powerful God was right there for them.
But I couldn't think of anything.
Then, last week, I was mindlessly doing the dishes with the radio on, when suddenly,
my answer came:
Send
them a holy hug.
Hunhhhh?
Into my mind sprang a picture of a
warm and cozy fringed shawl.
The idea came straight from the
sermon. It seems the rabbis in Jesus' time wore robes with hundreds of knots in
the fringes or tassels of the garment. Each knot stood for a law of the Old
Testament, or the name of YAHWEH. When the sick woman reached out through the
crowd to touch the fringe on the hem of Jesus' garment (Matthew 9:20-22), she
was expressing her faith and obedience to the laws of God. That's what made her
well.
I never knew that before! What's
more, I never knew this: the Hebrew word for "fringe," as in those ancient
garments, also means "wings," as in the fringe of feathers on the wings of birds.
My concordance confirmed it:
"kanaph" -- an edge or extremity - the wing of a bird, or the fringe of a
garment.
Instantly, I thought of that verse
in Malachi, about the Lord Jesus coming with "healing in his wings" . . . and I
knew a fringed shawl would represent it perfectly.
The first store I went to had a pile
of them, soft and light, in red - the color of life - with tons of five-inch
knit fringe. Soft! Warm! Comforting! Just the thing for these autumn nights. And
the red would have just the right pizzazz if those evenings had to be spent in
a hospital.
The clerk was curious, so I told her
what they were for.
She beamed. It turns out she belongs
to a small, new church that meets in a local high school. They believe very
strongly in the power of prayer. Their worship services often feature someone
who comes to the front with a shawl, often hand-knit. The pastor tells a story
about someone who is sick or needs healing, and, while holding the shawl, says
a prayer for the person.
Then they pass the shawl all around
the congregation. Each person in turn lays hands on the shawl, and silently
prays for the person, while everybody else prays and sings.
Wow! I got goose bumps! Take that,
Devil! Just TRY to beat that.
So I'm asking everybody who reads
this to mentally place hands on these red shawls, and pray for these dear ones,
that they would find peace and healing and comfort and joy. Then I'll wrap them
up and send them out, with love. It'll be my little stab at trying to be Jesus'
hands and feet . . . and wings.
You guessed it: they're going . . .
air mail! †
