The power to heal.

Today was the Sabbath day.

I hope you all enjoyed it, wherever you are and whatever the day brought you.

I taught a little about the priesthood today.  I teach the five and six year olds in Primary.

It seems that the topic of priesthood has been all around me recently.  Not just in Primary, but in drafting posts on recent Institute lessons, as well as conversation in the home and thoughts in my mind.

It really is hard to comprehend the power of the priesthood.  It is some intangible force, a massive power, by which everything (like you and me!) was created.  When God said "let their be light", it was through His priesthood power that that was done.  When Jesus healed the sick, it was through His priesthood power that that was done.

How wonderous.


Today in Primary we discussed being healed by the power of the priesthood.

At first we looked at some random first aid items you may have lying around your home.  I don't have a first aid kit (eek!) and I had to go rummaging around our packed boxes for anything relating to sickness or injury.  I gave them clues as to what I had in my bag, and they were pretty quick to guess.  We looked at the items one by one - the medicine, the bandage/wipe, the cream.  Yeah, that's all I could find.  I guess we don't even have band-aids.  We briefly talked about how these things can help people feel better.

Everybody gets sick now and then.  Sometimes we get hurt or injured.  The first aid kit can come in handy, but we usually need someone - parents, doctor, etc - to help us heal.  I then mentioned that there is another way we can be healed when sick.
When Jesus Christ was on the earth, He blessed many sick people.  He used the power of the priesthood to heal.

We looked at an example.  In almost all the four gospels in the New Testament, a story is recorded of faithful Jarius, who knew the Saviour could heal his daughter.  This is a story worth noting, because the daughter wasn't just ill.  She was believed dead.  People laughed at Jarius for thinking she was able to be healed, and they thought the Saviour shouldn't waste His time with the scenario.

But Jarius had great faith.  Which was key.  He truly believed that Jesus Christ could bless and heal his possibly dead daughter.  And that is what happened.  The Saviour, after shooing all the laughing people out, took the young girl's hand, and commanded her to arise.

Jarius' faith + Jesus' priesthood enabled the healing.

We then spoke about how it would have felt to be healed personally by Jesus, and that this is what still happens today.  It turned out that each of the kids in class had a father that held the priesthood.  One also had a brother that passes the sacrament each week.  We talked about the priesthood in the home, and their own experiences with it.  Because each of us can be healed just as if Jesus himself were here.

I also showed the class my husband's small bottle of consecrated oil.  It's oil that has been blessed for the specific purpose of blessing sick people.  We call it administering to the sick, being administered to.  Turns out the kids knew what it was ("Hey, my Dad has one like this!") and that was fun to pass around, reverently inspecting it one by one.

By the end of the class, with a few games and fun bits thrown in, these kids knew all about using the priesthood for healing people.  They understood that we believe in the gift of healing.

Have any of you been administered to, or blessed by the priesthood?  I'd love to hear about it. 

After church concluded, I was set apart for my two callings.  I had several men, who worthily hold the priesthood, confirm me to my church assignments in Primary and in Institute.  I'm now entitled to legitimate inspiration.
Not sure what I was acting on before ... ;)