Ephphatha!
Sometimes We Need To Be Opened To See Overflowing Goodness
by Eric Elkin
“Looking into heaven, Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up.”
A picture is worth a thousand words. The great Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen is credited with coining this phrase. It means a single image can often communicate multiple ideas. The adage also suggests it is easier to comprehend a truth we can see instead of one explained.
Looking over pictures from a recent trip, I noticed something about myself. The only images of me smiling were intentional group shots. None of the photos where I was not aware of being photographed captured a smile. My facial expressions did not communicate the way I felt about the trip. Although, they may have reflected a deeper reality.
Lately, I have noticed my wife checking in on my mood more frequently. She seems overly concerned, at least in my mind. Yet, the pictures kind of opened my eyes. Maybe, I was deaf to her words. Through her questions, she was trying to tell me something - I don't look well. The photos from the trip showed me the reason for her concern.
The season of COVID has been hard on all of us. It has been particularly hard on those who work with people. Anxiety and fear shape almost every conversation. Everyone has an opinion about how you should do your job. More debilitating is the isolation. People who work with people do so because they like working with people. They get energy and meaning from it. Remove that dynamic, and your job and life seem empty.
“Awakening is not changing who you are but discarding who you are not.”
A home communion experience and an encounter with scripture helped snap me out of my malaise. I went to visit an older congregation member in physical rehab. He was trying to heal from a long series of health concerns. The ability to sit together and talk was a blessing to both of us.
The conversation turned to Afghanistan and the future of our nation. He told me he was worried about where we were headed. I told him that people have told me the country was going to hell in a handbasket my entire life. Those who are complaining change depending on who is president.
So I asked him, when have you ever seen a person cling to the outside of an airplane to escape the United States? When have you seen a U.S. mother pack her belongings in a backpack and carry her infant children through a desert in search of a better life? Is the United States perfect? No. But there is a reason our population has grown by 22 million people over the last 10 years.
The reading today is about healing. Jesus looked up into heaven, sighed deeply, and said, "Ephphatha." The Aramaic word means "be open." The deaf man had "his ears open, and his twisted tongue released when the words are spoken." I've read this story a million times. I never knew what it meant until I looked at a picture.
Looking at myself covered with birds, I realized I needed this kind of healing. I needed to regain my vision. Peg would say my ears need cleaning too. Life might be difficult right now, but it is still overflowing with goodness. I share these words with you because maybe you need to hear Ephphatha as well.
Click to read Mark 7: 31-37
Reflection Questions:
What do you see that shapes your daily view of life?
What are you NOT seeing that may brighten your spirit?
How often do you trend towards the negative completely discarding the blessings around you?
How can you discard what you are not to allow what you are to come to life?
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