Before the Prescription

There’s a story about Jesus healing a blind man in an ancient village called Bethsaida.* He used saliva to make new eye balls. (Yeah, you read that correctly: Spit!)Here’s how you can do it:Step 1: Find a blind person.Step 2: Hawk a loogie in your hand.Step 3: Rub both hands together until evenly lathered.Step 4: Begin to smear...That's ridiculous! Offensive, really.Why? Because sometimes prescriptions are necessary; most of the time they don’t solve the problem but only trivialize it. What people need is solidarity—not prescriptions, not solutions, not a formula. What they need is the miraculous awareness that other people like them suffer with stuff like this. They are not alone, but in company.Before the saliva, Jesus came close, reached out, and led the man by the hand.Before the healing was the connection.Before the solution was the solidarity.How are you connecting with your clients first—before the promise or the sale or the prescription?How are you reaching out and touching your parishioners first—before the solution or the answer?How are you offering solidarity to your students first—before the recommendation, the formula, or the suggestion?*Mark 8:22-26