Article February 17, 1986 Issue

Thinking beyond the obvious

WILLIAM A. BUELL

In the Bible there is recorded the healing of a man at a pool named Bethesda. This man, infirm and unable to walk, reacted to Jesus' query "Wilt thou be made whole?" with, "Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me." John 5:6, 7.

This reply shouts of years of frustration and helplessness. The belief was that whoever got into the pool first when the waters were "troubled" was healed. But this man, because of his condition, could not get to the pool quickly enough.

Do we not find ourselves sometimes in a similar situation, hypnotized both by an obvious problem and by what seems an equally obvious remedy? And that remedy is often out of reach because of time or some other material condition.

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