Dear Friends,
Our bodies are a gift of God, full of remarkable abilities.
We see, hear, run, dance, think, sing, find ourselves surprised. We bleed
through a variety of causes. All these
functions and many more are contained in our one remarkable body, in
companionship with other bodies multiplied in our world.
We don’t know life apart from our bodies which grow to
adulthood, robust and capable, until they begin to diminish as we move deeper
into elderhood and old age. We either treasure our bodies, such as they are, or
we are less than pleased with how they look and feel.
Body-li-ness is inescapable.
In Genesis, God created our earliest ancestors with bodies. One
remarkable thing about Jesus and Mary, His mother, is that both are within
their bodies in heaven, a prelude and a hope for our future when the end-times
come.
It is worthwhile beyond imagining to keep our bodies as
safe, free of illness and whole as we can. But we know this doesn’t happen. Thank
God for our medical communities with all their competencies made stronger
through research and development of resources and methodologies.
On May 2, I had left knee replacement – a long time in
coming. Arthritis had done its worst, and for quite some time before surgery, I
had experienced the pain of deterioration. I walked strangely, felt tired, and
found the daily events of life challenging. Since the day of surgery, I have
found myself experiencing the pain of healing, and now, seven weeks out, even
that is gradually fading away.
But the reason I am telling you this is because there can be
faith lessons in an event like surgery and the process of healing. Here are a
few. You may have others to add to the list.
Healing sometimes requires the excision of a faulty part by
another person working in a team of people. Five hours after surgery, two staff
members escorted me down the hall as I walked tentatively, somewhat untrusting
of my new knee. More “on my feet” time came often after that. Physical
therapists worked with me several times a week on stretching and balance, and
in between times, I was told to increase my “numbers” for each exercise. That
took work. Then God asked me, “Can these bones come to life?” “Lord God,” I
answered, “you alone know that” (Ezekiel 37.3). I was not alone in the night
with the pain of healing, and I was not alone in the day.
Since my surgery, I have met a, continuing to grow, number of
people who have had joint replacements. They walk straighter, stand taller, move
with ease. They give me courage to walk the talk. I have found myself accepting
the open door strangers have offered as they taught me well.
In all of this the Lord has been present. “I will put my
spirit in you that you may live,” says the Lord (Ezekiel 37.14).
So, if you are pondering whether to trade in the pain of
disintegration for the pain of healing, take heart. The future may find you
dancing the dance of the Holy Spirit again.
~Sister Joan Sobala
