Breaking Protocol
Good morning Scripture reading: St. John 5: 1-9 Worship song: Oh It Is Jesus Meditation: At the Pool of Bethesda, a large crowd of individuals with disabilities gathered, seeking healing through its water. They believed that when the water was periodically stirred, the first person to enter would be restored. However, this belief fostered a system favoring the swift and the fastest and the able over those most helpless. In this environment of despair, a man who had been an invalid for 38 years was confined by his limitations and the helplessness of those around him. When Jesus encountered him, he disregarded the popular belief about the water and extended immediate grace, commanding the man to rise, take up his mat, and walk. This narrative exemplified that our salvation originates from the Lord, not from rituals or human endeavors, and that our circumstances do not constrain God's Omnipotent power....