A slavegirl's suggestion

                  Forcibly brought far away from my native land, I was disturbed. We were living comfortably in Judah when we were taken as slaves by the Syrian army and deported forcibly to their land. Why did the Lord our God, Yahweh allow this to happen to us? I pondered. My dear parents and siblings, all of us were scattered here and there. Our home was destroyed. I cried a lot in the early days of my capture.

                                            Thanks to the Lord God, I was made to be a servant of a kind woman. She was the wife of Commander Naaman, who was an army officer of the Ling of Syria. An influential one too. He won accolades for his battling skills and was a man of valor, well-liked by the king and the people of Syria.

                                            I was a slave to his wife. My mistress was a kind lady and it was my privilege to serve her and not others. She used to talk to me and ask me about my country and our faith too. In spite of the fact that she was my mistress and I was her slave, I became close to her.

                                            If there was one big problem for her and for the entire household of my master, it was the fact that he, Naaman, had leprosy. This was kept a secret from all the others but we in the household knew about his incurable disease. Many an evening I could see that my mistress would sit and cry, weeping inconsolably. The greatest problem for her and also for my master was this.

                                   "How can we get my husband cured of this terrible disease? Can any god help and heal him?" This was a complex problem for my mistress and one day when I pestered her, she opened her heart and shared this.

                                   Recollecting my early childhood days, I thought immediately of the wonderworking prophet of the Lord God, Elisha. He was a man of God known for many miracles. Could he not heal my master? I wondered. I began to pray about this.

                                   After a few days, I became convinced that the Prophet Elisha would be able to heal Naaman, my master from his leprosy with the help of the Lord God, Yahweh. If only he went to him and asked him. My next task was to share this with my mistress. How would she take my suggestion? Will she not retort immediately and say that the gods of Syria were also capable of healing?

                                   But I saw that despite going to offer many sacrifices and prayers to their gods, including Rimmon, Naaman, my master was not healed. In fact, his disease was slowly spreading in his body. This terrorized him and my mistress. She continued to weep and mourn.

                                   The constant misery of my mistress moved me. I decided to share with her about the Prophet Elisha.

                                   Before I did that, the fears I held in my heart surfaced. "How will my mistress, a heathen who worshipped Rimmon and other gods, respond to my suggestion to go to a man of God in Israel? We were the vanquished foes of the Syrians. Won't she say, why did not this great god of yours prevent you from being conquered by us?" I wondered.

                                   Deciding to go ahead and share with my mistress, I fasted and prayed to my God for a week.

One evening I decided to take the plunge. I went to my mistress after she had finished weeping. After giving her all that she needed to refresh herself, I spoke to her, "Dear Mistress, can I have a word with you?"

                                   Surprised, she replied, "Sure, what about?"

                                   Praying silently to God, I framed my words. "I know that the biggest problem we all have is leprosy affecting our Master. I have a solution for this difficulty. Do you permit me to share it with you?"

                                   My mistress opened her mouth and shared all her frustration with me.

                                   "Yes, indeed. My master and lord Naaman is such a dear husband to me. He is an efficient commander of the army and has led the Syrian forces in many battles, being victorious all the time. But this leprosy has affected him and he is getting weaker day by day as I can see. "

                                   "Haven't you gone to the Physicians and prophets of this land, asking them to heal our Master?"

                                   "Of course, we have done that. We have been doing it for many years. I have made many sacrifices to our god Rimmon and asked the priests to make many incantations and prayers for Naaman. But so far there has been no healing for him. I am very depressed about it, as you can see."

                                   I saw that the Lord God had opened a way for me to share.

                            Coming out of her tirade, she said, "Yes, child, what do you have to say? Do you have a solution to this great problem we have?"

                                   "I think I have, mistress. There is a man of God, a prophet in our land Israel. He has been doing great marvels and miracles in Israel. I have heard a lot about him. His name is Elisha. If our master goes to him, he can surely heal him of his leprosy because Prophet Elisha is a prophet of the highest God of Israel."

                                   I was trembling in my heart as I said this. My mistress laughed loudly. "How can this god of your land, who could not protect his own people, all of you from us, Syrians, be capable of healing my husband?" she trilled.

                                   Depressed, I started to curse myself for suggesting a simplistic solution to a complex problem. "Who was I to give a suggestion to the Lord Commander of Syria?" I thought.

                                   As the days went on, the problem did not disappear. The leprosy was spreading to other parts of the body of our Master. The mistress continued to suffer, sob, and cry every day. Not able to bear seeing this, I persevered and suggested to her again very humbly.

                                   "Madam, I plead with you to think of my suggestion. If our Master goes to meet the Prophet Elisha, he will surely heal him and restore him to full health."

                                   Taking a break from crying, my mistress thought for a while. I could see her thinking, "What if we try what this girl is suggesting? Surely it can cause no further harm?"

                                   This made me happy. Slowly she shared this thought with the Master. Our Master Naaman was desperate. He hated the disease and wanted to be rid of it. As they talked to each other, I crouched in a corner and eavesdropped.

                                   "Dear Naaman, my servant girl gave us a simple solution to this problem."

                                   "What does that slave girl know about leprosy, dear?"

                                   "She says that there is a man of God, a prophet in Israel who does mighty works of wonder. If you can go to him, he might be able to heal you from your leprosy."

                                   "Really! How does that mere slip of a slave girl know this? What is the name of that prophet, anyway?"

                                   "She says his name is Elisha and that the king of Israel can help you locate him."

                                   "We have tried all we can. Do you think I should try this also? It seems to be a too simple suggestion, but maybe my solution can come out of it. What do you say, dear?"

                                   "My servant has been insisting on this. I think there is no harm if we try it out. At worst you may not be healed."

                                   "Okay. I will ask the King to give me a letter to the king of Israel, his vassal to get me healed. I will take that and go to the king of Israel and see. Shall I?"

                                   "Do it Naaman. May the good god Rimmon be with you!"

                                   Overjoyed, I ran away from my hiding place. I was wanting to share my joy with someone.

                                   I found my old friend, a respectable servant of Naaman. He was also from Israel, originally, and shared our beliefs. I found him and told him what had happened. He was happy and said, "Surely my master will take me with him when we go to Israel. I will make sure that he will do what the Prophet tells him to do."

                                   This made me happier. I knew that the Lord will heal my master through his servant, the Prophet Elisha. I was waiting for it to happen. Waiting patiently as they started to journey to go to Israel to meet the prophet.

                                   My simple solution, will it result in happiness for all? I wondered as I waited patiently.