The story of “the pool at Bethesda” alludes to the
following excerpt from the Thornton Wilder play, “The Angel that Troubled the
Waters”. The play is based on the biblical verses of John 5:1-4, but it changes
the end of the parable from the Biblical story that Jesus tells.
The play tells of a physician who comes often to the
pool of Bethesda, hoping to be the first in the water and healed of his
melancholy and depression when the angel appears and troubles the water. Everybody at the pool
also hopes to be the first in the water and thereby healed of their malady. An angel appears and blocks the physician at
the moment he is ready to step into the pool and be healed.
Angel: “Draw back, physician, this moment
is not for you.”angel1
Physician: “Angelic visitor, I pray thee,
listen to my prayer.
Angel: “Healing is not for you.”
Physician: “Surely, surely, the angels are
wise. Surely, O Prince, you are not deceived by my apparent wholeness. Your
eyes can see the nets in which my wings are caught; the sin into which all my
endeavors sink half-performed cannot be concealed from you.”
Angel: “I know.”
……………Interlude………………
Physician: “Oh, in such an hour was I born,
and doubly fearful to me is the flaw in my heart. Must I drag my shame, Prince
and Singer, all my days more bowed than my neighbor?”
Angel: “Without your wound where would your
power be? It is your very sadness that makes your low voice tremble into the
hearts of men. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and
blundering children on earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of
living. In Love’s service only the wounded soldiers can serve. Draw back.”
Later, the person who enters the pool first and was healed
rejoices in his good fortune then turns to the physician before leaving and
said:
“But come with me first, an hour only, to
my home. My son is lost in dark thoughts. I — I do not understand him, and only
you have ever lifted his mood. Only an hour . . . my daughter, since her child
has died, sits in the shadow. She will not listen to us but she will listen to
you.”
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For me, this story has an incredible story and, because the
message is—“Without your wound where would your power be? “— This phrase carries
so much meaning. I feel that it is only through my weakness I can see others
like Jesus does. I believe, for me, it
is my whole foundation for who I am.
