The Angel That Troubled The Waters
Many of you have asked for further info regarding the play i refer to when introducing Good man. I found this on the internet tonight.Thornton Wilder has a one-act play called THE ANGEL THAT TROUBLED THE WATERS which is based on John 5: 1-4. The people of the time believed in the power of the pool of Bethesda to heal whenever an angel stirred the waters. When the water was still nothing happened. But when the water began to stir people who were ill would come and try to get into the water. There was only so much room. People would wait and wait and wait. Thornton Wilder tells the story about a physician who is wrestling with melancholy or depression. The physician is waiting because he wants to be healed of his depression. He waits and waits till finally the waters begin to be stirred. The angel is there stirring the waters and the physician rushes forward and is the first to go into the water. But before he gets to the water the angel stops him and says, "No, it is not your time." The physician says, "Please let me be healed of this depression. If I were healed think of all that I could do for so many people and the healing I could do." The angel says, "No. "Without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and women. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children on earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of living. In Love`s service, only wounded soldiers can serve. Physician, draw back." "Later, the man who enters the pool first and is healed rejoices in his good fortune and turning to the physician says: "Please come with me. It is only an hour to my home. My son is lost in dark thoughts. I do not understand him and only you have ever lifted his mood. Only an hour. . . There is also my daughter: since her child died, she sits in the shadow. She will not listen to us but she will listen to you." The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children on earth as can one human being, broken on the wheels of living. In Love`s service only wounded soldiers can serve.