And to try to do so means losing the very thing, the very mystery, we seek to know not so much to understand it as to stand under, to stand in it. Perhaps a good starting point is to note that what we know about this phenomenon is communicated through stories. Mark and the other gospel writers didn t go about writing a systematic theology about the possibility of miracle, or about the method with which Jesus healed people. They didn t put forth propositions that chopped reality into bite-sized, understandable bits. They told stories.
Stories don t nail things down.
Since the language of story is metaphor, and since it seems that s all we ve got with which to speak about this business of healing, I d like to suggest a metaphor to help us speak of God s power to heal. I believe that God s power to heal comes as an invitation to stand in the wind. We cannot control it. All we can do is stand in it, and trust that God is there, in the wind. It fills the sails of those who wish to cross an ocean.