By Lin Watts, Executive Director of Broadview
“And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house?” (2 Kings, 4:2-7)
What a loving question! Here was a widow in despair, her children about to be sold to pay her debts. She asked Elisha for help and he responded, “What shall I do for thee?” Elisha knew immediately that God would deliver this woman and her family from bondage. He knew that the same God who had fed his teacher, Elijah in the wilderness, and showed Elisha how to restore the barren land by casting salt into the waters would show him how to supply this woman, (2 Kings, 2:19-22).
What did he ask of the widow? “What hast thou in the house?” What a question! This is a question we should all ask when we are looking to provide for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Elisha knew this woman had what she needed—he only helped her to see it. And how did he do that? By encouraging her to grow what she had.
“…And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full…And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” (2 Kings, 4:2-7).
Isn’t that what we all need to do? Like the widow, if we use what we have, we will be given more to provide for those in our care. Here at Broadview, we have a building with more than 40 rooms. Yet, on any given day, many of those rooms are unused. Why is that? Well, as an experienced Christian Science nurse, I can think of at least two reasons. First, people don’t believe they can afford to be here, and second, they think they don’t want to be here, because of their fear that it’s where people go to die.
Quite frankly, I completely understand why someone might be tempted to believe those things—but they aren’t true. Benevolence is available from The National Fund for Christian Science Nursing, which began operation last spring, from The Endowment for Christian Science Nursing in Southern California, and from Broadview, so there is no reason to believe that you can’t afford to stay at Broadview. Broadview is a wonderful, healing place to be, a place of growth and progress, a refuge where we can overcome our fears and meet physical and mental challenges with the loving support of dedicated, inspired Christian Science nurses and practitioners. Yes, passings do occur here—just as they do in homes and other places—but there have been many wonderful healings at Broadview. Here’s one example from our reports of healing shared earlier this year:
“On three separate occasions, guests arrived at Broadview needing full bed care but overcame their mobility challenges and walked out our front door within a week!”
Christian Science Nursing facilities like Broadview were created as refuges for healing, and in the words of the Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, “…as resorts for the so-called sick.” At Broadview, our doors are open to you, open for healing.
If you have any questions about Christian Science nursing, or admission to Broadview, or want to know how you can help support our healing mission, please contact me at lin@csbroadview.org or give me a call at (323) 221-9174, ext. 300.
Thank you for your prayerful and financial support of Broadview’s healing mission.