Shared Perspective

My friend Mary's son Aaron received a bone marrow transplant from his brother, Adam, a few days ago and is doing very well (thanks for your prayers). I wanted to share a beautiful piece of her blog with you:

From AaronRutzCarePage at www.carepages.com, by Mary Rutz:
I got to go to Church today and it was one of my favorite Sundays of the year. The gospel was the story of the Lazarus being raised from the dead. I always love the way our 10:30 choir sings “Roll Away the Stone” throughout the Gospel reading, and then the entire song later during the mass. I had an interesting thought during the homily.

We know that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He had been in the tomb for FOUR days, and we know what a miracle it was for Jesus to raise someone from the dead. We know that Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” We know that Jesus said, “Lazarus, come out!” and he did. But the part that struck me today was what Jesus said to the people BEFORE he called to Lazarus.

He said to them, “Roll Away the Stone.” I guess it is strange that he asked them to do this. After all, he was about to RAISE someone from the DEAD, certainly he could have moved a little old stone all on his own. But he asked the community gathered there to roll away the stone. It was important for the community to do their part in that miracle. They didn’t just sit back and let it happen, they had their part to play.

So when I think about this story… what it means for Aaron… the promise of eternal life… the hope for and belief in a miracle… and what I learned today… that a community plays a part in the miracle, too. I KNOW that God can heal Aaron, and I know how much our community has been called upon to play their part.

I see this with each passing day. When I feel the weight of the stone and I think that our little family can’t move it by ourselves… I come home to flowers on our front porch and letters in our mailbox; to emails and messages of support; to lovingly prepared meals; to videos and music; to thoughtful gifts; to smiles and to phone calls; to friends who care for our children and those who offer their own blood; to words of encouragement; to hugs and tears; and to so many prayers.

So thank you everyone. Thank you so much for being a part of this miracle.