Perhaps not everyone will see it this way, but, to me, the world sure seems broken and hurting right now. I don’t know what’s the best description or metaphor. These are dark times. We’ve lost our way. We’re at war with ourselves. The dystopian future of so many authors seems to be near.
“Is there no balm in Gilead?” asks the prophet Jeremiah towards the end of the 7th century BCE (Jeremiah 8:22). In the midst of political and religious strife, conflict and degradation of society, he sees the Hebrew people have turned away from God and he proclaims the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the nation. He hurts for the people, as does God, and laments their circumstances.
Jeremiah offers this metaphor: is there no balm in Gilead? Gilead is a hilly part of the country, east of the Jordan, famous for a soothing ointment made from the sap of balsam trees. So, he says, is there no soothing ointment that will fix this problem and make everything better? And the answer is no. No there isn’t, there’s only weeping day and night, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem and the death of the people that is to come. And it does. Babylon conquers Judah, Jerusalem is broken and the Temple destroyed.
For Jeremiah, there is no balm for that. It needs more, and that’s Jeremiah’s concern. It needs more than a superficial repair or a moment of comfort, it needs time to hurt and mourn, time to lament. It needs time to journey through the hurt and then it needs something deeper, something transformative, something heartfelt. Jeremiah sees that as a turning back to God, not just in the temple or in the behaviour of priests, politicians or even ordinary people, but a deep, heartfelt and dramatic change in how the people live.
Later, much later, Jeremiah will offer words of hope that a new day is coming, but this moment calls the people to live the hurt and work together with God to transform it.
African-american slaves picked up on that. They didn’t sing a question, they made a statement: “There is a balm in Gilead/ to make the wounded whole./ There is a balm in Gilead/ to cure the sin-sick soul.” Their reference point is Jeremiah, but they find the answer in Jesus and the Holy Spirit: “The Holy Spirit revives my soul again” says one common verse and “You can tell the love of Jesus” says another. This is no salve for irritated skin, this is something deeper, something to be found in the hearts of everyone. Something Jeremiah might understand to be more like the covenant God offers much later through the prophet: “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33).
However you know God, or not, this goes beyond religion, it goes to the heart of who and how we are. Like Jeremiah and the spiritual, I’d say it’s about turning back to God, following the way of Jesus, inspired by the Spirit. By that, I mean love and grace, empathy and compassion. These are the strengths of spirit that carry us through this journey. And it offers no quick fix. There’s no mental or spiritual “take a pill and be fine tomorrow.” It’s a journey on which God is with us, through the hurt, the grief, the challenges, the successes, the joy and the laughter. It’s the journey to wholeness and we’re invited to walk it respectfully together.
