Faith is not just believing that God can--it is knowing that He will!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5
One afternoon I was visiting with a friend who was half-a-century older than me. Even though our age difference was great, we had several things in common. We both loved God. We both loved reading and we both had an affinity for cheese. (You won't believe the arguments we could have over cheese.)
In one of our discussions, we were talking about creepy places we had been to. I mentioned to him a place near Booneville that had once been a colony for Tuberculosis patients.
"You won't believe how creepy it is!" I exclaimed. "If you wanted a definition for a haunted house, then this is the place."
Suddenly his demeanor changed from one of jovial laughing to a serious frown. I asked him what was wrong, and did I say something wrong.
"No," he sadly shook his head. "I lived there for four years."
My generation does not know about the horrors of TB, or consumption, as many know it. Less than a hundred years ago, one in four people died from it. People who contracted TB were rounded up by the government and shipped to colonies to live out their lives. Unfortunately, the life expectancy for someone who was forced into a TB colony was about five years.
When he was just a child, a black government sedan drove up to the house he and his mother lived in and took him away to the TB colony in Booneville. He didn't get to see his mother for several years and lived by himself, along with several other children, in a dormitory. For five out of seven days, he was kept in an "Iron Lung." During those days he couldn't move or walk or as children want to do, go outside and play.
"They would wheel me over to a window, every once in a while," he said. "But it couldn't be for very long because there was a line of people wanting to look out."
On the days that he was allowed out of the iron lung, they were spent being poked and prodded by doctors. "We had favorite doctors and nurses," he said, "but they were really all about the same. What made the difference was whether or not you got sheets on the gurney. You won't believe how cold those steel beds could get."
I sat in horror at the stories he told me. Stories of isolation and abandonment. Of having the specter of death above his head every day and of not knowing how long he would live. I asked him what got him through it all.
"The Bible," he firmly said.
When he was admitted, the Masonic Lodge brought a box full of Bibles for the children to read. And he read in it every day. And he read about miracles of healing. Of people going on journeys and of how faith could make you whole. When he was discharged, he wasn't allowed to take anything with him. Even his Bible.
"But I fooled them!" he exclaimed with a wry smile. "I smuggled it out in my underwear! There was no way I was going to leave it behind."
We take for granted the power that God's word can have in people's lives. The hope it brings for the hopeless and the joy it can inspire to those who have nothing left. The story of God's faithfulness should fill us with thanksgiving every time we read it. And sometimes, the only thing we may have in the whole world is a tattered Bible and the gift of faith.
Let us pray.
God of Glory. Today we give thanks to you. We are so very grateful that we do not live in fear of disease. That You have given men knowledge to advance medicine so that the quality of life we have now is unparalleled. We pray for those who have gone on to glory and we pray that future generations will know even more the power of Your healing touch. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
The blessings of Our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.
PASTOR TROY CONRAD IS MINISTER OF THE FARMINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. EMAIL: [email protected]. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.
Religion on 10/12/2016