Were Not All Ten Cleansed?

Ten people broken and ostracized. Ten people crying out for deliverance. Ten people cleansed by the power of the Great Physician. Ten people able to return to their homes and families. And only one returns to say "thank you."

I remember being taught this parable from Luke as a young girl in Sunday School. It was the lesson on being thankful when someone does something kind to you. But this passage is not about the "thank you" as much as it is about the returning and the remembering... In the story, only one of those healed returned back to Jesus. He doesn't just say "thank you," but instead he throws himself at the feet of Jesus and cries out in a loud voice. This isn't a polite "thank you" for a favor done; this is the cry of someone who has been restored to a healthy condition, a condition he thought unattainable.

Gratitude, real thankfulness, is a mental return to the moment of need - a physical or emotional need. You may have needed healing; you may have just needed a drink of water or a chair to sit on...but gratitude requires returning to that moment of need even after that need has been met. To be thankful for the water that quenched my thirst is to remember that very moment in which I felt parched. And when I remember, I cannot help but express gratitude to the one who thought it not robbery to attend to my need - however large or small.

I have been in all three positions articulated in the Lukan gospel. I have been the broken one in need of healing, who forgets to return and remember after I have been healed. Full of energy and new life, I have forgotten to acknowledge the source of my strength and say "thank you." I have forgotten to send that email or that card to let someone know how she has blessed me. I've taken a gift for granted and walked away without a spirit of gratitude for the Gift Giver.

I have also been the one who has returned, throwing myself at the feet of those who have so richly blessed me. I have at times heeded my grandmother's advice to give others "their flowers while they are still living." Whether real flowers or words of praise, I have remember to return in gratitude and remembrance to those teachers or neighbors or colleagues who have blessed my life - even if they did not know it.

But nothing has humbled me more than to be on the receiving end of someone's gratitude. After a long season of pouring out pieces of my heart and soul, thinking no one understands or appreciates my efforts, I may receive a card or note or a visit with words of thanks. Tears flood my eyes when this happen because at that moment, I truly understand the power of gratitude. The recipient has been blessed, and their expression of gratitude humbles and blesses the gift giver.

It is this space of mutuality - giving and receiving; thanking and being thanked; returning and remembering - that we can truly appreciate the Lukan account of the one who returns with words of thanks. He was not only cleansed, but in his expression of gratitude, we can locate his complete healing. The cleansing from the disease took place after only a few words from the Healer; but the healing of his mind and his body happens when he acknowledges his need, dependence, gratitude, and love for the Divine One. Ten were cleansed, but only one - through his remembrance and return - was made whole.


© Yolanda Pierce