Cameo 10 – “Under Instruction”

February 1, 2021

In this cameo essay we see Helen being careful to ask for direction about visits to her friend, Dave, who is dying in hospital, and also about praying for him and her husband Louis. She receives very specific instructions about both. It is important for us to look at this window into Helen’s willingness to accept and act on Jesus’ direction and her process of working through her miracle impulses.

Helen carefully follows instructions not to visit Dave at least twice which seems to have gone against her own inclinations and now that she has received word that he has died she is feeling upset. She realizes though that she does not know the whole picture. “Perhaps there was no ‘need to know’ involved.” It is very hard for us to pause and ask what we should do when we feel fired up to offer miracles. We do need to remind ourselves that we do not know and therefore are more likely to act on a miracle impulse that has been distorted by our upside-down thinking. Helen is really paying attention to her impulses and is showing a willingness to not act on them but to follow Jesus’ instructions.

Helen’s immediate impulse on hearing that Dave’s wife is “talking about giving away the baby” is to “jump to the conclusion that [she] was supposed to take it.” But then remembered that this was likely an indiscriminate miracle impulse. This opens the way for her to be instructed by Jesus to do the miracle he needs from her so that it goes where it is going to have the most impact.

We do know that Helen visited Dave “under instruction” and was also instructed on how to pray for him. When she is praying as instructed, it is quite different from the way we normally think of prayer. Normally prayer is a request or petitioning of God for something, or to some saint to intercede for us on some matter. Helen has been instructed to pray to Dave and she has been given what to say when and how to say it so that it has the greatest chance of getting through to him. When she is instructed to pray for her husband, who is feeling ill, we see the same pattern. She is instructed to pray for him when he is asleep, and she knows she is not praying alone. Jesus is with her in prayer. Again she is praying to her husband, speaking directly to what needs healing. In both cases it seems that there is illness because they have had failures to love.

Question for reflection:

Are there instances in my life where I am unwilling to pause in my impulse to help in some way and wait for instruction?

Exercise:

Think of a recent instance where you felt compelled to help someone. Maybe there is someone you want to help now.

Let that strong urge come into your awareness now.

Does something come into your mind as a possible solution? Take some time with this and look at all the aspects of it. How will it be a total solution to the problem?

Ask yourself if this could be an indiscriminate miracle impulse.

Ask Jesus for help to understand what he needs you to do in this situation. Be willing to follow instructions.

Ask for instructions for praying for this person. Know Jesus will be praying with you.

Open your mind to not allowing your miracle impulse to be distorted by saying; “[Name], whatever miracles I can do for you I will to do.

Practice suggestion:

Jesus, whatever miracles I can do for you today I will to do.