The old spiritual “Wade in the Water” is a song that that gives covert direction as well as spiritual consolation.  As many of the spiritual songs sung by slaves, the words of the songs contained hidden meanings or codes that instructed escaping slaves attempting to escape on the Underground Railroad, as well as edifying them in their Christian faith.   For example, slave owners many times used bloodhounds to track down escaping slaves.  So the directive to “wade in the water” was to remind an escaping slave to find a body of water to wade into if they were being pursued by bloodhounds, as the dogs would lose the scent of the escapee, once in the water.   God was going to “trouble the waters” so as to safeguard the freedom-seeking slaves from being apprehended and re-captured.  And then again, in the closing verse of the song, “If you don’t believe I’ve been redeemed…Just follow me down to Jordan’s stream,” the slaves were challenged even dared to risk all in order to be free, by crossing the Ohio river.  This freedom was a very real experience of redemption!

In Ez 47:1-9, 12, we have an angel leading the prophet into ever-increasing depth of water.  The water is flowing from the threshold of the temple and the prophet is being led deeper and deeper, until he finds himself in a river.  “…the water had risen so high it had become a river that could not be crossed except by swimming.” The wading suddenly now required swimming.  Finally the prophet is carried by the angel and placed on the banks of this great flowing river.  In Jn 5:1-16, we hear the story of a man who has been lame for 38 years, who sits by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, waiting for the waters to stir, so that he can get into the water and be healed.  But, he never gets to the water.  Everyone gets there before him.  When Jesus sees this, he simply asks “do you want to be well?”  When the man says ‘yes,’ Jesus tells him to pick up his mat and walk, which the man does, and he is healed.  The lame man needed this healing directive from Jesus in order to move!  But it’s not over yet…

We lead each other into dark places of suffering and injustice, sometimes intentionally and other times in ignorance, wherein we become trapped by circumstances or frames of mind that prevent us from seeing new possibilities.  We impose slavery on one another and deprive one another of dignity, never realizing that in doing this we are sentencing ourselves to the same imprisonment.  We can pick any facet of life and culture and see this happening – religion, politics, family, economics, environment, etc.  It crosses all “lines,” of race, religion, creed, gender, nation, language.  We jump in front of the “lame” ones and seek to be healed, while disregarding those standing in line for the same, which results in none receiving the ointment.  We think the pool is exclusive and not big enough for all to swim in.  We are also the “lame” one, the one who watches others sidestep us, walk over and around us to get somewhere important.  We complain and become bitter at the injustice, which can even worsen our pain and suffering (lameness) until we may not even wish to be healed – comfortable instead to remain in a pattern of self-affirming victimization.

What does Jesus say to the lame man, after he is healed?  “Look you are well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may happen to you.”  This is not a fatalistic prediction on Jesus part, nor a threatening warning of retribution for continued bad behavior.  It is a healthy challenge to allow redemption to happen.  Jesus asked the man, “do you want to be well?”  This seems to be saying that we have to at least see the possibility in order to accept or welcome it.  If we can’t see the promise of redemption, we cannot commit to being transformed.  God does “trouble the waters” and in doing so, gives us a wake-up call.  The water is deep and getting deeper.   It is risky to be swim here, but there is no sign that says “Swim at your own risk!”  We can be rescued and carried to the riverbanks by an angel, just like Ezekiel.  But we have to see the “hands” of the ones who reach out to us, and respond in gratitude and generosity.  And this means we have to also “be” the hands of the ones reaching out!

Inasmuch as we lead each other into painful places, we also have the opportunity, and I have seen it happen often, to lead each other into places of space, joy, dignity and empowerment!  This is the space of redemption – that area that opens up when we recognize the whirlpools of slavery that we create for ourselves and each other.  It’s a calm buoyancy that we can experience when we stop hunting each other down with the bloodhounds of ignorance and using each other as target practice for self-hatred and misunderstanding.  It’s the “fruit trees” that grow alongside the banks of the river, whose “fruit shall serve for food, and … and their leaves for medicine.”  It’s a commitment to a synchronous relationship that feeds and heals the shallow puddles of ego that we mistake for deep pools of contentment.   Here, we can tell each other, “yes, I want to be healed, don’t you?”  “Pick up your mat and walk,” becomes “Pick up each other’s mat!”  It’s a communion borne from the movements of transformation and redemption.  Somewhat like synchronized swimming, it involves strength, endurance, flexibility, grace, artistry, and timing.

Peace,

Thomas

 (Originally Published March 8, 2016)