In our good old summertime here, it has been too hot to work or exercise or sleep. Ed, my old neighbour in Saskatchewan, feels they have been having warmer weather in his province than we are here. I said if their weather is hotter than ours he is welcome to it. The heat has been uncomfortable. In fact, it has been so hot I installed a portable air conditioner in my bedroom to cool it off for sleeping.
Now I have the air conditioner running I know my power bill is climbing rapidly higher while the temperature in the bedroom slowly becomes lower. Ed said it costs too much money to stay cool with an air conditioner and I should just aim a fan at myself and be satisfied to sweat. I have been painting with a fan pointed in my direction and it sure helps to keep me working.
If the heat bothers us, we act to get some relief. Ed tells me I should go to a swimming pool in our hot weather. Since I swim like a stone, I will confine my swimming to the shower and bathtub, but I think swimming pools are great for others.
In the Bible, we are told that in Jerusalem there was great interest in a pool called Bethesda by the Sheep Gate that had five roofed colonnades. The colonnades were filled with a multitude of invalids: blind, lame and paralyzed. It was believed that if the waters of the pool were stirred the first invalid into the pool would be cured. Many thought the waters of the pool could cure people.
Jesus spoke to an invalid lying by the pool who had been an invalid for 38 years. Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed. The man said he had no one to put him in when the water was stirred up in the pool. By the time he tried to get into the pool on his own, someone had stepped down into the pool before him. He explained to Jesus that healing would not be for, but Jesus knew it would be.
Jesus told the man, “Get up, take up your bed and walk.” And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked. This took place on a Sabbath day, so right away religious leaders confronted the man that it was not lawful for him to be carrying his bed. He should not be carrying a load of any kind on the Sabbath. The healed man explained the man who had healed him told him to pick up his bed and walk.
When the religious leaders heard it was Jesus who healed the man and told him to carry his bed, they were boiling mad. It was one more reason for them to want to kill Jesus. Eventually, they would succeed.
The hottest days of summer are not nearly as hot as our resentment, anger and hatred that can boil over towards another person. Hanging on to those attitudes will harm us more than the other person. We need to freeze them with the same unconditional forgiveness that Jesus displayed toward sinners.
