crookedshore

The Spirituality of Illness – This Is My Body Broken

It was Communion Sunday in church and we said together the words of consecration,

this is my body broken
his body broken in the garden, where he sweated great drops of blood and wished that his fate could have been other. When he wished his father could take it all away and some alternative way to healing might be found.

this is my body broken
when complex machinery reveals the inevitable, and the gentle-faced doctor breaks the news. When the surgeon with the soft hands and the busy voice declared the incompetence and his intention to make it good.

this is my body broken
his body broken, its integrity compromised, breached by nail and spear. His modesty stolen from him against his will and laid bare to the world. Embarrassed, humiliated. His body broken.

this is my body broken
where latterly it was strong and capable, it is now weakened and breathless. Pricked, stuck, probed, penetrated, extracted, invaded, measured, exposed. Weighed and found wanting. This is my body broken.

this is my body broken
his body broken, lifted above the earth and exposed, his strangled cry, his last breath. A death which somehow achieves redemptive purpose.

this is my body broken
exposed on a table, heart and lungs diverted, a last breath along a way walked before.

This is a truth that the world hides, that salvation lies not in an intact body, but in one that is broken.

0 thoughts on “The Spirituality of Illness – This Is My Body Broken”

  3. Hi
    One may find the following discussion interesting on the issue of Jesus’ death on Cross or his no dying on it
    Scott Thong Says:
    July 11, 08 at vide http://scottthong.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/the-locked-tomb-mystery-whodunit/ and concludes:
    I do not know where you got your information from, but I contend that it is inferior to the logic and proof of my arguments.
    paarsurrey Says: The comment is awaiting moderation.
    July 11, 08 at
    Hi
    I respect your faith.
    I have read the write-up as contained in (http://scottthong.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/the-locked-tomb-mystery-whodunit/) the whole of it. In my opinion there is a difference between a myth and a miracle. One cannot understand a phenomenon fully unless one compares it with others writing on the subject.The PromisedMessiah 1835-1908 has explained it in detail with very sound arguments. Kindly read his book “Jesus in India” , written a hundred years ago and compare it with your views and you will know the truth for sure. It only requires a little research.
    The book “Jesus in India” can be accessed here freely:
    http://www.alislam.org/library/books/jesus-in-india/index.html
    Kindly read the book so that we could discuss it further. There is no harm if other persons reading our posts join in the discussion. Jesus did not die a cursed death on Cross; he was a righteous person, I love him.
    The myth (not the miracle) of Jesus dying on Cross was invented by Paul at Rome, when Jesus was in exile and alive in India. There is no mystery; if there was any, that has been solved by the PromisedMessiah 1835-1908 with a Word of revelation from GodAllahYHWH.
    Thanks
    I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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