The Journey 241: Relationship Should be Spelled as Relationship
Read: Acts 9: 36-43
Crisis experience is always life changing. We are never the same after we have gone through crisis. Some people become bitter and cynical after crisis. Some others not only learn valuable lessons in life, but would carry the positive lesson to others in life. One of the nominations for the CNN person of the year is Jonny Imerman. What is unique about Johnny is that like millions of other people, he is also a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 26. While he fought with cancer, he realized that he needed someone with whom he could share his pain and his fears. Once he fought his cancer successfully, he realized that there are hundred of other cancer patients who wants to connect with someone who has gone through the same trauma. It is this vision that led him to start “Immerman’s Angels” an organization, to help cancer patients to connect with cancer survivors, so that the patients gets one to one relationship for support and encouragement from someone who has also gone through the same crisis situation. What Immerman’s Angel does is that they carefully match and individually pairs a person who has been diagnosed with cancer, with someone who has fought and survived the same type of cancer . This person is called as the mentor angel. This is a one to one relationship that inspires hope and offers the opportunity for the cancer patients to be very free and formal in asking questions and also receive support from someone who is very familiar with what the patient is going through. Here is a person who uses his life experience to empower others while they go through crisis. In a world where everyone is left to carry ones own burden, Johnny stand out and also become a model to all of us. I believe the community of believers “The Church” and each of the believers is also called by God so that we also share a one to one relationship with our fellow brothers and sisters so that we are able to be a “fellow traveler” in their journey of pain and suffering. This is one of the truths that we can see in the Word of God. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Acts 9: 36-43. In this biblical portion we find a witness about a lady named Tabitha from others. The immediate context of this portion is that Tabitha became sick and is dead. Her death is mourned by the believers in the early church especially by the widows. When Peter comes to Joppa he is told about death of Tabitha and the widows shows Peter, the robes and other clothing that Tabitha had stitched for the widows while she was still alive. We do not know much about Tabitha, but here is a lady quite unknown, yet in her own way trying to help the widows who went through pain and suffering. What she did was to be some element of hope, support and consolation for fellow ladies who were widows and were often socially ostracized. Peter listens to the wonderful witness of the widows and then goes to the room to raise Tabitha from death. What is unique about Tabitha is that she become a source of support in her own way for the widows of the early church. Though her contribution is mentioned only in a small portion in the history of the early church, the action that she did, will always be remembered for ever. What is needed today in our church’s and in our community, is relationship that are supportive and empowering. It is sad that relationships that we share in our church as community of believers are sometimes so superficial that we are sometime very lonely even in the church. Let us take a decision that we will forge supportive relationship in the church, so that we become a fellow traveler in the life of a fellow believer offering hope and support. It is to such a relationship that God call us to.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
Crisis experience is always life changing. We are never the same after we have gone through crisis. Some people become bitter and cynical after crisis. Some others not only learn valuable lessons in life, but would carry the positive lesson to others in life. One of the nominations for the CNN person of the year is Jonny Imerman. What is unique about Johnny is that like millions of other people, he is also a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 26. While he fought with cancer, he realized that he needed someone with whom he could share his pain and his fears. Once he fought his cancer successfully, he realized that there are hundred of other cancer patients who wants to connect with someone who has gone through the same trauma. It is this vision that led him to start “Immerman’s Angels” an organization, to help cancer patients to connect with cancer survivors, so that the patients gets one to one relationship for support and encouragement from someone who has also gone through the same crisis situation. What Immerman’s Angel does is that they carefully match and individually pairs a person who has been diagnosed with cancer, with someone who has fought and survived the same type of cancer . This person is called as the mentor angel. This is a one to one relationship that inspires hope and offers the opportunity for the cancer patients to be very free and formal in asking questions and also receive support from someone who is very familiar with what the patient is going through. Here is a person who uses his life experience to empower others while they go through crisis. In a world where everyone is left to carry ones own burden, Johnny stand out and also become a model to all of us. I believe the community of believers “The Church” and each of the believers is also called by God so that we also share a one to one relationship with our fellow brothers and sisters so that we are able to be a “fellow traveler” in their journey of pain and suffering. This is one of the truths that we can see in the Word of God. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Acts 9: 36-43. In this biblical portion we find a witness about a lady named Tabitha from others. The immediate context of this portion is that Tabitha became sick and is dead. Her death is mourned by the believers in the early church especially by the widows. When Peter comes to Joppa he is told about death of Tabitha and the widows shows Peter, the robes and other clothing that Tabitha had stitched for the widows while she was still alive. We do not know much about Tabitha, but here is a lady quite unknown, yet in her own way trying to help the widows who went through pain and suffering. What she did was to be some element of hope, support and consolation for fellow ladies who were widows and were often socially ostracized. Peter listens to the wonderful witness of the widows and then goes to the room to raise Tabitha from death. What is unique about Tabitha is that she become a source of support in her own way for the widows of the early church. Though her contribution is mentioned only in a small portion in the history of the early church, the action that she did, will always be remembered for ever. What is needed today in our church’s and in our community, is relationship that are supportive and empowering. It is sad that relationships that we share in our church as community of believers are sometimes so superficial that we are sometime very lonely even in the church. Let us take a decision that we will forge supportive relationship in the church, so that we become a fellow traveler in the life of a fellow believer offering hope and support. It is to such a relationship that God call us to.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla