Jesus the Healer: Jesus the Challenge

By Richard W. Leech

Life is a challenge: the challenges are rarely enjoyable and often life threatening, and/or associated with injury and life long crippling. Sooner or later, usually as a child, one meets the challenge of believing in a being far superior to man, the child is expected to accept an unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence. I am a Christian and such a setting is typical.
However, throughout my life the experiences I faced always led to some degree of doubt that lay in the back of my mind all of my life. Then, my wife developed cancer in 2001 and given five years to live. She accepted it as she had all of the challenges we had faced in our marriage, quietly and rather serenely. I began to examine my own life and came to the conclusion: yes, I believe that there is a God, and that Jesus Christ, his son, if my savior and my healer, but that the proof of that belief is not necessarily based on faith alone. He is around me at all times and on all occasions. It is based on the experience of the numerous exigencies, or urgent conditions that pressed upon my entire family and the individuals alone.
I have almost entirely based it on my numerous illnesses and accidents because I cannot honestly speak for my living relatives who are moving forward with their own lives as mine approaches its end. There were many discussions with my wife who helped me document my health difficulties in a rational sequence even as her cancer progressed. There was the oldest of my sisters with whom I was very close. and as children we never had secrets from one another. As adults I would visit her on numerous occasions .in Delta, CO. We always enjoyed taking a stroll in the Park with its nature walks adjacent to the rivers that give Delta its name. We spoke openly and honestly about our families, Her wisdom, like that of Elaine, my wife was calm and quiet. As a husband and brother, I did not acknowledge its value until too late.
First there was my parents divorce when I was but a child. It led directly to a fragmented family that had to desperately struggle to stay together. Then there was mothers unrelenting struggle to keep us children together. She had neither experience nor an education. Her father had deserted her and her brother soon after their mothers death. When he was finally discovered him, he was well off and quickly told them to get lost.
Thus it went on. The story tells the rest.

Richard W. Leech

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 25, 2009
• ISBN: 9781450001878

Richard W. Leech

Dr. Richard Leech is Professor Emeritus (Pathology), retired from the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine. Born and raised in Seattle, he graduated from the University of Washington. After his internship, he married his wife of 42 years in the Lutheran Church in Toledo, Ohio. He served as an Air Force Flight Surgeon, and then entered a pathology training program. He was a faculty member of two other state medical schools before coming to Oklahoma. As members of the Norman Trinity Lutheran Church, the Pastor was responsible for significant spiritual training and guidance.

Book preview

1

In the Beginning

I am lost, I am lonely, and I am hurt. I have suffered the effects of my disbelief, the gradual acceptance of my weaknesses, the gradual strength gained through my increasing acceptance of Jesus Christ, and the effect he has had upon my life. I included many of the events of my life as they have affected me, because one does not grow in a vacuum. Many are painful to remember, but that too must be faced.

[We are] troubled on every side, yet not distressed; [we are] perplexed, but not in despair (2 Corinthians 4:8).

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous (Romans 5:19).

For God so loved man that he gave his only begotten son to die for us.

34 "Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?" (Romans 8)

2

Doubts, Fears, Scorn, Disbelief

As it was for me, there are many options open to the reader: belief, disbelief, doubt, scorn, indifference, but as I sit here with my right hand shaking as the aftermath of the viral meningitis, to understand life, one must live it. That I have done.

I do not know what awaits me after I am dead. That is a personal journey every man must make alone, or with God’s grace, hand in hand with Jesus Christ. I am not eager to take the journey, on the other hand, I do not fear it. That much comes from listening to my pastor and vicar; thus, the actions of Christ the Redeemer is present throughout the tale I wish to tell. I have chosen to tell of the many illnesses and other hazards of life I have experienced. Many, if not all, could have led to my death. They didn’t. Keep in mind Christ, for he is always present. I know it. I feel it. I believe it.

3

From I the Physician to I the Patient

From the perspective of a physician you will read little sermonizing, but I will give you the medical facts. There were many difficulties for my family in my youth and I will give you the pertinent details. But as for me, a helping hand was always present. As you move along, draw your own conclusions.

Understand this! I will emphasize many potentially lethal or crippling illnesses. That’s the dark side of my life. If, however, one is to see the sun, first he must see the night—its nightmares, which assail one during periods of weakness. It is easy to succumb to such nightmares and have them become your "reality." As I have sat and fought with myself, the questions must remain: What to include, what not to exclude? It is not easy to answer. I shall include those bright moments that are interspersed among the many illnesses; God gave me a good body, a strong body. No man can ask for more. I have come to recognize my God and his Son through moments of darkness and light in order to find the Son.

That should be sufficient unto itself. Of course, it is not. That’s life; therefore I have included many personal items which by nature I would never dwell on, but for the fact that each of us, for the most part, suffer indignities, loss of retirement funds, loss of dearly beloved ones, too many losses to document here.

I will include the bright lights as they have occurred in my life. There were not many in my youth. But that too is insufficient. I was too inexperienced to know the difference. That is part of life. I have known many older individuals who have come to recognize the price they paid for their early sexuality, their haste to move on while others more slowly were taking their time to gain the knowledge required for the more desirable positions, better paying jobs, etc.

Let us move on.

4

Moving On

Do you believe in Jesus? Many don’t, although they go to church regularly, donate a small sum of their earnings, and go home happy. They’ve done their duty to God. Right?

I don’t have the answer to that. It is, after all, their decision.

5

Focus: The Trinity

There is however one point to be considered, one which I consider the focus of this discussion. That is the Trinity. With each episode or illness, Christ has been there. I truly believe that he is here around me. I live and achieve within the context of the Trinity. That is the conclusion up front. The story of why I came to my conclusion follows. It’s been a long and oftentimes a difficult trek. But I write this to document one man’s trip through life. There are no great or powerful messages, no great achievements. I have lived and done my job. If I would do more, then that must follow.

If we come to God by his grace alone, as the Lutheran Church teaches, and which I believe very strongly in, then there are a number of points that you must keep in mind.

God made us in his image. He created the earth, the water, and the heavens. For man it is necessary for him to believe in that one God. But it is not essential that he take the Bible verbatim. Within reason, absolutely! However, God’s timeline is not necessarily ours. Simple, isn’t it? God chose a simple way of teaching us: His son, Jesus Christ, took our sins upon himself that all of mankind could be saved. It sounds simple but is incredibly complex. I have sat with the Bible, reading those chapters and verses recommended by either my pastor or vicar. But let us move on.

6

He is with Me, All the Time

Jesus Christ is with me all the time. For me, that means he is in my presence all the time. He doesn’t take days or months to answer a prayer. Many, many times it is the same day, the next day, and so forth. He hasn’t cured my arthritis, but he has given me the means of controlling it. He hasn’t cured my heart disease, but he has had the medical and surgical control of cardiac disease (atherosclerotic heart disease) matching the progression of my disease. I have lived far beyond what cardiologists believed each time I have seen them over the past twenty years.