Byte: Rev. Dr. Keith Haney ~ The Healing Miracle!

Rev. Dr. Keith Haney tells about being a very new pastor in a congregation that he was just meeting when he was called to the bedside of a young woman who was expected to pass. After being asked to pray for her he wondered, "do I have the power to ask for her health?" Well, the result was astounding...and changed everyone's lives.

Transcript

Hello, Everyone, And welcome back to your next episode of the podcast. This time, I'm introducing you to Reverend Dr. Keith Haney, Who is a builder of bridges and unity in a divided world. And we actually have a really, Really potent conversation about racism in this episode. But also, Dr. Haney talks about what it's like to be a leader and how to be a leader and just exactly how to have difficult conversations around racism and bringing people together. Reverend Dr. Haney is all about cultivating safe spaces for difficult conversations. But I'm going to be honest, I was captivated from the second we said hello. So I hope that you are too, Because his miracle is quite powerful and reminded me that sometimes the power of prayer and using our voices well is exactly what we need. The miraculous story was there was a 25-year-old young lady who was in the hospital and they didn't know what was going on. She was not responding well. The family asked me to come to the hospital and pray with her because they were going to pull the plug. And so I'm going, I don't know what to say. We didn't have a class on bedside, You know, Funeral prayers, Especially because Lutherans don't have it. We don't have like the last rites. That's a Catholic thing. Sorry, I'm fading a little bit. I did not actually think about the sun actually going down today. So I'm getting a little darker here and starting to like disappear into the distance. You know, One thing I do want to make very clear is going back to our conversation about, You know, Exhaustion and you giving talks, Educational talks, Compassionate talks about racism and how it shows up everywhere and people are so unconscious about it. I think a lot of people are very unconscious just in general, But racism is like a whole other separate special kind of unconsciousness. I want to just make it really clear that it's, You know, In general, It is not any person of color's job to educate white people. White people should be doing their own work. And, You know, While I talked about intimacy, Because I grew up overseas in an Islamic country with kids from all over the world, I fully know that I'm racist and I acknowledge that. And I know I have a lot of work to do. It's weirdly and, You know, I've been unpacking it a bit and understanding that a lot of it was after I came back to the States and I went to Batavia, Which was all white. It was so white. I'd never seen anything like it in my entire life. And I told one of my counselors in seminary, I said, That was the first time my heart was broken because I came back to the States, Everyone was white. It was weird. You know, All of a sudden it mattered what you were wearing to school, What you brought in your lunchbox. You know, There were all these weird clicks. I just didn't understand anything about the culture was so bizarre to me. But you know what, As a kid, You learn to adapt and you learn to fit in as soon as possible so that you can survive. And you know, I took on the stories from the greater surrounding kind of culture, I guess you could say, The parents and the kids. So I just want to make it very clear, Like around racism, We should all be doing our own work. We should all be reading the books we need to read. I'm a big fan of encounter. And so I think that means you go out and you meet people, Like who knows? Who knows where you're going to meet someone or what kind of meet and greet you're going to have or encounter. But that is another opportunity for God to show up and in another person, But also in the encounter. So I think everybody should be reading books right now, Having encounters and meeting people and just celebrating them no matter what they look like. Because quite honestly, I think most people are incredibly splendid human beings. And I'm sure you would agree, But I wanted, I just didn't want you to think I was going to gloss it over from earlier. No, It's funny that you mentioned Batavia because I used to preach there a lot. What? Yeah, At Emmanuel. I worked with them a lot during their process when they were vacant. And so I know Batavia really well. I know St. Charles really well. Yeah, No, It's an area. And I think the other thing about that is it's not just white people that have to work on their attitudes about race, Because my congregation in Milwaukee had a real issue with race, But it was mostly from the black members who thought they couldn't be racist. And so they treated the white teachers in our congregation horribly. And that's where I learned that it's not a color. It's not about who has perceived power or not. It's about what's in your heart. And so I wanted them to understand that we have to treat each other with respect on both sides and we have to see each other as valuable children of God. And so it was hard because you don't, When people think they can't be racist, They think they're immune to the meanness that other people, That they've themselves experienced and that people deserve it. Because I don't, And they will use the excuse, Well, I don't have any power. Like, No, You do have power. You have power. And you mentioned before, With that tongue of yours to do great damage and great harm. So we have to be responsible for our tongue because that tongue can be a wonderful tool of encouragement or it could be a double-edged sword and it can cut to the heart. And so no matter what race you are, Be careful with the tongue and how you use it. Thank you. Thank you. That's, Thank you. All I keep thinking about is that, You know, I have Scorpio in my astrological chart and sometimes when I was much younger, That little scorpion tail came out through my tongue. It was not a good thing. It was not good. But I learned my lesson. I learned my lesson. Well, I'd love to ask you the main question of the podcast, Which is, I would so appreciate if you would tell a story, Share a story of something, You know, Either you witnessed in your life or something that you experienced that you consider to be magical, Miraculous or mysterious. Oh, Sure. It was my first year in ministry and I walked into a congregation that had a lot of, A lot of unusual grief right away. My secretary had just had her first grandchild and we arrived the day that they were having a funeral. The child had a stillborn SIDS situation. And we walked in with this new six month old and crying in the background, I'm like, Oh, I felt terrible because she just lost her grandbaby. But that was a miraculous story. Miraculous story was there was a 25 year old young lady who was in the hospital and they didn't know what was going on. She was not responding well. The family asked me to come to the hospital and pray with her because they were going to pull the plug. And so I'm going, I don't know what to say. We didn't, We didn't have a class on bedside, You know, Funeral prayers, Especially because Lutherans don't have it. We don't have like the last rites. That's a Catholic thing. So, You know, There's no prayer that I knew that was going to make this work. But I went and as I was praying with the family, They were taking the tubes out of her and cutting her off all the medication. And we were thinking that she was going to die. But after the prayer, We realized that it was she was having a negative reaction to the medication that she was on. So literally taking her off of those, Those things saved her life. And then six months later, This girl was walking down the aisle at a wedding I was officiating. So we went from expecting a 25-year-old to lose her life to me coming and asking me past the street, Should we pull the plug or not? And I'm trying to advise the family as best I can. I'm like, You have to do what your heart tells you to do. And so they did. And she survived. And she walked down the aisle six months later at her cousin's funeral, I mean wedding. And it was a miraculous thing. It was one of those things like, Wow, This is this was a truly God moment. Well, Yeah. And I mean, Just it's a another beautiful example of the community coming together and people coming together to support, You know, Not only her in the hospital, On death's door, But also the family and everyone else who loved and cared about her. And I think we're strongest in community. We're the most blessed when we're in community, When we can show up for each other wholeheartedly. Because that is a whole lot of miraculous energy, I think, We can show up wholeheartedly with each other. That's the kind of stuff that can heal, I think. Yeah. So that story is, I mean, Also, I think to myself, The medical system, I just sigh. And then I think, Thank goodness, I mean, For everyone who came and prayed and was present. But then thank goodness that she was given another opportunity to live. Yes. That's just amazing. And then you get to be a witness. Yeah. It was like, Wow, God is like, My ministry started out just right. It's like, All right, God does amazing things. And that's it. That's a wrap on my conversation with Reverend Dr. Haney. Thank you for listening. And here's my one request. Be like Reverend Dr. Haney, Who is changing the conversation about racism, And also urging us all to step back and observe where we might have unconscious biases and unconscious ways of being that are racist. It is a challenging conversation. It's a heartbreaking recognition. But he's urging us all, Including me, To understand where we contribute to furthering the racist narrative, And also a racist way of being. So yeah, That's my takeaway. Have the courage and conviction to understand where you are blind. Have the courage and conviction to become a better person. And then have the courage and conviction to walk out into the world and, Yeah, Live that life honestly, Openly, And bravely, And help to heal the world. All right. See you next time for the very next podcast, And until then, I hope your life is filled with laughter, With joy, And enjoying this glorious spring as nature wakes up and gets ready for summer.