Jane Gray Suggs’s face beams as she shows off the picture of her late husband, Forest DeWitt Suggs Jr. It is a picture that holds a favorite memory. That’s because it is a memory that almost did not happen. In the photo, Forest’s tall, lean body is bent over and his hand is stretched out to take his wife’s hand. Just before the photo was taken, Forest made the winding climb down to the entrance of the tomb believed to be Jesus’ resting place after he was crucified on the cross. And at that very moment, they were standing in the tomb’s doorway. And they both are smiling for the camera. To Jane Gray, the picture is proof of a miracle. Just four years earlier, her husband was told that a cancer was taking over his body and there was nothing else that doctors could do. “I think those miracles are everywhere,” Jane Gray said. “We are just too busy, sometimes, to see them.” A member of First Presbyterian Church in Anderson, South Carolina, Jane Gray is an 84-year-old … [Read more...]

While sitting in a Catholic funeral recently, I was struck by the richness and depth of the liturgy. It said so much, both visually and verbally. The deep connection between death and baptism was reiterated again and again in the sprinkling of the body with baptismal water, in the lily-white pall adorning the casket and eloquently in the spoken and sung liturgy. And I was reminded of the importance of our identity in our journey towards death. As a Presbyterian pastor, when I officiate a funeral I lift up this connection by pouring baptismal water into the font at the beginning of the funeral to remind those gathered that “death is the completion of our baptism” and for the one they’ve gathered to grieve, “her baptism is now complete.” Not only as a pastor, but simply as a Christian, baptismal identity is important to me. It is central to how I see myself and live my life. It matters very much to me that I have been adopted as God’s child and incorporated into a body of faith. … [Read more...]

  What is “healing”? Doctors tend to emphasize one aspect of healing: physical healing. Counselors and therapists focus on a different aspect: psychosocial and emotional healing. Pastors and pastoral counselors are concerned with the spiritual well-being of individuals and communities – and even, in a kingdom sense, with the healing of the world. Most healing practitioners, as well as most individuals seeking healing, are aware of the overlapping dimensions of healing – that is, that healing is a holistic concept involving body, mind (and emotions) and spirit. The “New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible” defines healing as “a restoration to health by any of a number of health care options, including but not limited to the body’s capacity to self-heal, prayer and other forms of divine entreaty, and a range of bio-medical interventions.” Jill Snodgrass, assistant professor in the department of pastoral counseling and spiritual care at Loyola University of Maryland, … [Read more...]