smooth skin

Monday February 13th 2 Kings 5: 13 His servants went over to him and said, "Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. So why don't you do what he said? Go wash and be cured." 14 Naaman walked down to the Jordan; he waded out into the water and stooped down in it seven times, just as Elisha had told him. Right away, he was cured, and his skin became as smooth as a child's. I am sure that if Naaman was upset that Elisha didn’t come out to meet him, and that Naaman was upset that he was asked to wash in what he considered the wrong rivers, he surely was not happy when his servants pointed out the error of his ways. Naaman was a proud man. That was his downfall. Sometimes when we cross the boundary walls of our own pride we find remarkable results. In our current economic difficulties, is perhaps the boundary of pride also keeping us from a solution? Throughout the scriptures we are called to create and live in a just society, where no one has too much, no one has too little and everyone has enough. It is almost impossible for those with too much to either recognize or admit they have too much, or do anything about it. It is often up to those in society with too little to make the noise and bring about the change needed, the change that will benefit those with too much as well as those with too little, that is what the occupy movement is all about. We too need to hear the voices of those around us, especially those who find themselves outside of our self-defined boundaries. We need to hear those voices for the healing of us all. Naaman had to cross national boundaries to get to where Elisha was, but the more difficult was crossing the boundary was imposed by his own arrogance. The same is true for us.