Gratitude, Thanksgiving Spirit
November 18, 2012
“Where are the nine? Were not all healed?”
Luke tells the familiar story of the ten lepers who come to Jesus asking for help. He tells them to go to the priests. One comes back to Jesus falling at his feet in gratitude; Jesus pulls him up to his feet and asks: Were not all healed? Where are the other nine?
He expresses a very human feeling of being hurt because the other nine lepers who were also healed did not come to show their gratitude to him. The only one who came back was a Samaritan, a group despised by Jews.
This reminds me of an incident when I was working in TASSC, a non-profit organization of survivors of torture. One day a young man came in to the office asking for help. According to him he was seeking asylum and needed a lawyer and other services. He looked physically and mentally beaten up; his left elbow was twisted. When I asked him what happened, he said that a military person had beaten his arm with a metal bar and dislocated his elbow. We referred him to a legal office for help with his asylum petition, and to various medical and health services. Eventually he successfully convinced the immigration judge that he deserved to be granted asylum in the U.S.
He never came back to the office again after that. I felt hurt because of his failure to thank me and the other staff, not even bothering to call us. For myself I just tried to forget the incident and not blame him for his failing.