Tag: healing

30 Days in Gennesaret: Day 5 No Ordinary Thread

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No ordinary thread

this simple length of hemp

fringing the journey from

manger to the cross.

 

No ordinary thread

dye saturated with holiness;

still damp

from walking on water.

 

Priestly garb, this

to finger lightly,

having brushed blood, and hunger

death and demon stench.

 

Count the miracles

strand by strand by strand.

‘Tis just a touch

but choosing,  one could weave a lifetime

eternal.

jfig     3/2020

 

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you, “Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

“Matthew 14:22 (NIV) – Immediately Jesus made the disciples.” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 5 Apr, 2020. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/niv/mat/14/22/p1/s_943022&gt;.

 

Things to ponder: In this expanded passage, both Peter, and the sick, are reaching toward Jesus. What does it feel like to you personally, to ‘reach’ for Jesus? What holds you back?

What would it look like to ‘choose’ Jesus in your current circumstances?  Luke 4:18-21

 

 

30 Days in Gennesaret: Formation Day 4

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Formation

I have lain in the dust

I have borne a pallet

Undone by mercy – my heart has been changed by each

 

Encounter—who is this Jesus

whose vestments vibrate

sage power to heal

 

Heal quickly , my soul

Heal quickly

This Jesus, I must follow

 

I have lain in the dust

I have borne a pallet

…might I wash his feet?

This Jesus, I must follow

jfig     3/2020

 

Dear Reader, we encounter Jesus from so many different postures as we go through life. I hate to think of some of the stances I have taken as He has approached. In using reflection as a tool, I find it helpful to ponder those different roles and attitudes. Where are you today, with regard to Covid-19? Are you fearful, resigned, waiting to see what happens? How does where you have been in the past, inform what you need today? Jesus is nearby; with what will you encounter Him?  Thanks for reading… jfig

PS. I chose this image for its attitude of enthusiasm.

30 Days in Gennesaret: Brokenness Day 3

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Mark 6:53-56 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout the whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever the heard he was. And wherever he went – into villages, towns or countryside – they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed. 

“Mark 6:53 (NIV) – When they had crossed over.” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 3 Apr, 2020. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/niv/mar/6/53/p1/s_963053&gt;.

 

Three years ago, I started working in a place where nearly everyone was visibly broken. There was a time, when I was afraid to get too close, for fear society’s ills would, leprosy-like, creep up my flesh. I did not yet know, how well I reside among the broken. That Jesus could walk by to find me groveling in the dirt, his tangled fringe grasped in both begging hands, and still, with eyes of compassion, see himself reflected there. Being among the ‘sick’ made me brave enough to examine my own festering wounds.  And offer them up, for His cure. Today’s poems reflect moments in this ongoing journey.

 

Need

‘They’ lie in the street -hovel deep

need so mottled and stark

one cannot even

conceive a dream.

 

Our only recourse – CRY OUT

at the pain we feel…or perceive.

Entitlement stoops clumsily

…to lend a hand up?

 

Jesus, we wait for you

Perhaps in the waiting

our knees should hit the dust

too.

jfig     3/2020

 

Brokenness

She does not need me to ‘announce’

what is wrong with her.

Funny…she already knows.

 

Nor to endorse a cure.

Leaking ‘helper’ need

does not increase her chances of survival.

 

By all means – draw near.

In helping to lift her wasted hand

both hers and mine will brush His hem.

 

jfig     3/2019-20

Where do you find yourself in the Jesus story – among the broken, or tending wounds, perhaps?    What do you see?

 

30 Days in Gennesaret: Brought Day 2

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Could they see the sea

feel the boat bend the land?

Do they hear pounding footfalls

feel the coarse scrape,

wayward elbows brush sand,

those borne on pallet?

 

Shared hope of sacrifice

eclipses beauty of either sea or sail

Jesus did not heal in isolation.

Those who had been brought

engage this One, atrophied limbs lifted

to beseech the fabric of wholeness.

 

The healer Jesus

disembarks

and the land vibrates.

Runners

with resounding echo,

cadence of hope.

 

Brought begets beauty

in surging tide of need and service.

Tended rope-this

its braid lifts all eyes one inch

to the fraying hem

of Jesus’ garment.

 

jfig   3/2020

 

 

 

 

 

30 Days in Gennesaret: Invitation and Offering

JFig1 Comment

Dear Reader,

Mid-February, I was tucked away at the beach – reading, walking, writing – when the scene of Jesus healing the sick in the marketplaces of Gennesaret again caught my eye. As a caregiver, and as one who experiences brokenness, this scene intrigues me. Four brief verses of scripture, but so many perspectives. Upon the advice of my writing friends (a beautiful gathering of wise, faith-filled women), I have been practicing poetry. There at the sea, not unlike Galilee, an idea sprang to life. 30 poems for 30 days  –  I can do poetry month!

During those first hours of scribbled thoughts, I did not realize, at least consciously, how fraught with anxiety our sense of community and global health would immediately become. Nor do I want to ‘capitalize’ on the moment, rather be taught by it. So here, in words, we search, if not for a microbial cure, then space for our hearts and minds to breathe.

These poems are an invitation to reflect, to create, to ponder various perspectives, to pray. Reflection opens up teachable space, allowing us to sift through our anxieties and fears, our unanswered questions. I am convinced that we continually form and reform our beliefs about suffering, whether we register them as ‘theology’ or not. Throughout life, we pace the ground of hope and healing for individual lives, or that of community, It is our privilege to tread carefully toward nurture, or unaware, trample that which might sustain life. 30 days in Gennesaret is an invitation to be intentional in reflection. For this project, I have used as prompt the passages in the Bible from Mark 6:53-56 and Matthew 14:34-36.

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. Wherever he entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well. 

“Mark 6:53 (NKJV) – When they had crossed over.” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 30 Mar, 2020. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/nkjv/mar/6/53/p1/s_963053&gt;.

If you would like to submit/share an original creative piece (poem, painting please, etc) to participate in this project, feel free to contact me directly. Thank you!   

…and Offering: almost ALL of us are caregivers in one form or another. I have been a mother, a physical therapist, a hospice worker, a good-intentioned but less-skilled listener, a neighbor, a special needs parent, a meal-maker, a daughter (my Mom does 3/4ths of the work), a wife, a friend. In what ways have you been a caregiver for the ‘sick’ in the territories of your life? When have you, yourself, been sick and reaching? All of these inform our observation, and our offerings of hope and perspective to one another. Not to mention what we offer back to God as belief.

As we approach Gennesaret, we are with the disciples, in a boat; it’s storming. We recently felt the death of John the baptist. Before climbing into the boat we observed the feeding of the 5000, that one small lunch… And frightening moments ago we pondered what it is to walk on water. The disciples’ conclusion as Jesus steps into the boat and the wind ceases, is to worship him, “Truly you are the Son of God.”  I’d like to complete this intro then, with a prayer, taken from my journal. It is what I hope my heart will remain, as we explore the marketplaces of Gennesaret together.

Sincerely,  jfig

 

A Follower’s Prayer

Father God, may my thoughts be so characterized by you:

that the psalm is on my lips in tandem with the questions

that the voice of fear is stilled to righteous caution

and the perverse seed of bitter entitlement is bled by informed compassion.

You, oh Lord, know my frame; its weakness and strength.

May that strength ever be, the wonder of who you are.   

 

 

 

“Matthew 14:22 (NIV) – Immediately Jesus made the disciples.” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 1 Apr, 2020. https://www.blueletterbible.org/niv/mat/14/22/p1/s_943022.