Reading: John 5:1-16

“Do you want to be well?”

“Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”

When I began visiting church I hadn’t realized that it was during Lent. I had a vague notion since it was right before Easter, but I wasn’t marking my days by the litrugical calendar as I do now.
One of the things I really love about history is that it’s historical. It happened. And for religious history, being Jewish, not only did it happen there, but it happened first. I’ve always been enthralled by my connection to the chosen people.

I remember reading for the first time about the discovery of the five porticos and how it was the place – the pool of Bethesda. I didn’t know the significance, but whatever had happened, happened there, and there existed.

I wasn’t told in words to take up my mat, but when I felt the words’ meaning, I was changed.

Read about the pool and the history. What are your meditations on this place, and your own healing?