Academics and practitioners are exploring the new world of COVID-19. One of those explorations is whether healing can be done at a distance. This is a science based discussion about ehealthcare. Can conference meetings, data gathering and other health diagnoses be legitimate?
My mind went to Christian healing at a distance. Is prayer/faith transmitted over a distance (virtually) able to heal the sick? Do we need to be in the physical presence of someone to see them healed? How do we see healing in Jesus’ name working?
My denomination has a notorious approach to healing. James 5 (in the Bible) talks of the in-person approach – along with many other biblical passages. We have gleaned from those narratives a sense of how Christian healing works – the actual in-person practises that promote healing.
We also play well with prayer requests for healing. Again, there has been a long history of this approach right back to the beginning of the early Christian church.
And so, we are ready for a pandemic.
Or are we? A pandemic pushes us to re-examine how much we believe in healing at a distance.
Do we really understand how our “prayer” diagnosis for healing works? Can we rightly pray healing in Jesus’ name and know with certainty that there is healing taking place – even if we never meet someone? How do we monitor healing that happens virtually?
Here is a thought . . .
People truly shaped in and by prayer (the ultimate virtual conference meeting and virtual diagnosis center) may be our leaders in regaining a healthy sense of healing at a distance!