THE HEALER:
FORTUNE OR FATE?
Note: This is one of nine stories told at Peterborough Storyteller's World Storytelling Day event on March 20th, 2013. The Healer was written and performed by Don Herald. Check back in a few days to this Tales and Tips blog to view video clips of some of the wonderful stories told that evening.
My story is
based on true events that happened almost forty-five years ago.
It had been
another hot, busy day in the surgery of the Christian mission hospital in north
Central India. Dr. Tom, a British surgeon, had been operating all day long. Since
his hospital was the only one for hundreds of miles in any direction, his
surgery, outpatient and inpatient units were always filled to overflowing.
It was not
uncommon for a person to travel on foot, or be pulled in a buffalo cart or sometimes
carried on a stretcher for several days to reach his hospital. As would be the
case here in Canada or in Britain, each patient also came with the expectation
that Dr. Tom’s skill would fix them, perhaps even save their life or that of a
loved one. But unfortunately not everyone could be fixed or saved.
At day’s
end, we were relaxing with a cooling drink in his small living room. Dr. Tom was
showing us some x-rays of a young child whose parents had carried him to his
surgery many months ago. The child could not walk due to a severe congenital degeneration
of the hip sockets. The x-rays clearly showed very little bone and cartilage in
and around the joints. The boy was a cripple.
There was
no surgery that Dr. Tom could do that would repair the bone structure enough to
allow the boy to ever walk, even with the aid of a crutch. His parents were
devastated that the famous Dr. Tom and his legendary healing powers could not
help their son. This time, the famous Healer could not heal.
Putting
down the x-rays, Dr. Tom sipped on his drink and for a moment seemed lost in
thought. Then he resumed his story.
In the
months after the child had been at his hospital, Dr. Tom began to hear stories
from patients about a wandering preacher man who had mysteriously appeared in
the more remote areas of the region. According to Dr. Tom’s patients, this bearded
fellow dressed in flowing robes like a holy man and was always accompanied by a
group of ten to twelve men who appeared to be friends of the Preacher and
assisted him in his ministry.
But what most
intrigued Dr. Tom about the growing reputation of the Preacher was that at his
gatherings, villagers reported that the Preacher laid hands on some of the ill
and suffering and apparently healed them. For these acts, he and his band
demanded no money, but asked only for food and modest lodging to support them
in their travels and ministry.
The
Preacher’s reputation as a healer grew incredibly fast among the villagers. Soon
his gatherings grew from at first dozens, then to hundreds of men, women and
children who came to hear the Preacher’s words and hopefully for a fortunate
few, to benefit from his healing work.
As a
surgeon, Dr. Tom was understandably very skeptical of the growing number of
reports from his patients about what were now often referred to as healing
‘miracles’ performed by the Preacher. Dr. Tom began writing down these miracle
stories, curious to get to the bottom of what was really going on here. He
showed us a notebook where he had meticulously recorded dozens of villagers’
reports about the healing acts of the Preacher.
Dr. Tom
began to wonder if this man’s reputation was by clever design or perhaps by
divine guidance.
One day, quite
unexpectedly, the young boy and his parents returned to Dr. Tom’s outpatient
clinic. Only this time, the boy was walking with the help of a cane. Dr. Tom couldn’t
believe what he was seeing. He learned that the parents had heard of the
Preacher and carried their son a great distance to a gathering. The boy had the
good fortune to meet the Preacher who laid hands upon the boy’s hips and legs
and prayed. The boy had risen slowly and awkwardly, and then walked unsteadily
away supported by his thankful parents. Ever the scientific skeptic and after
hearing this story, Dr. Tom again x-rayed the boy’s hips.
It was
these x-rays that he now pulled out from a folder and held them up for us to examine.
Dr. Tom pointed out how the sockets were now complete with bone and cartilage
into which the boy’s leg bones fit snugly and properly.
Dr. Tom
looked at us. ‘I have no real explanation for this. It would appear that the
Preacher man has done the impossible and healed this child. If I had not seen
this with my own eyes and did not have these x-rays as proof, I would never
have believed this’.
So now, I
leave it for you to decide. Was it Fortune? Or was it Fate? Or was it something
else entirely?
