I made a \'follow-up\' visit to my friend Jack in the hospital last Friday. A month ago, the doctors had given him a 1% chance of survival and asked his wife to sign the \"Do not resuscitate\" papers. (She didn\'t sign them.) I had wanted to visit him and anoint him with holy oil from the Monastery of St Nektarios, but I came down with the flu.
Anyway, I finally got to visit Jack and brought the holy oil. Two days later, the doctors were astonished that Jack \"snapped out of it\" - his blood pressure stabilized, and he was strong enough to withstand a full dialysis.
So, I made another trip, with a small icon of St Nektarios. My plan was to see if Jack was interested in hearing more about Orthodoxy, and perhaps to leave him with the icon as a gift.
Jack\'s wife Mee Ling was there, and Jack was watching TV. It truly is amazing to see how much healing the Lord has brought to him in this short amount of time. I did my little \'show and tell\' presentation of St Nektarios - and Mee Ling (understandably) was agitated. She pointed out that many people were praying for Jack, and that God was answering those many prayers (and not St Nektarios).
I know it takes baby steps, so I left the comment hanging in the air, but after an hour of chit-chat I explained that St Nektarios was praying alongside of us - as an intercessor. Because of Christ, the members of the Body are not separated even by death.
And I assured MeeLing that Orthodoxy is indeed Christian and not idolatry. I think she heard me.
baby steps...
Be the first person to like this.