Naming your wounds

Every Tuesday I gather with some of the Lutheran Pastors at Emmanuel and St. John’s Church in Park Slope. We prayerfully study and share the scripture readings for the next Sunday service as we open our hearts to God’s word and to one another. I have come to appreciate the insights, stories, laughs and fellowship that our sharing of faith generates.
 
This past Tuesday we spoke about the wounded body of Christ and how we need to heal the wounds in our own communities. In that spirit we began to see how many of our members were being affected by the unprecedented trauma and stress that have resulted from the polarizing forces in our society and the seemingly ubiquitous violence that has, tragically, become a normal part of our daily lives.
 
This is why we need to recognize, as a community, the many wounds that afflict us. We need to name the ways we are wounded and let the spirit of the resurrected healing God restore us to wholeness. In naming those wounds we open ourselves to the healing spirit of the crucified and risen Lord. Let us remember that we as a community are called to care for one another. That care begins with small gestures of compassion toward our own fragile, wounded bodies. When we do so, we feel our humanity restored and we become the resurrected body of God here on earth.
 
Name your wounds, embrace the power of resurrection and be restored.
 
Rev. Juan Carlos Ruiz