WE PRESS ON: A WOUNDED HEALER’S RESOLVE: (Revelation 22:1-5)

we found you shivering in the cold

wounded and abandoned

we drew near, embracing with His Healing Touch

walking in transparency and grace

the windows to our souls swung wide before you

an offering of spiritual intimacy and friendship

affirmation for a damaged pilgrim

longing to recapture significance and destiny

who could know the depth of the pain?

the debilitating rejection

“They must not know.” “I will recover; I will conquer!”

so we trod on with “our heavenly callings” –

“our ministries”

closing the shutters on that part of the soul

needing His Piercing Light more than any other

seeing through a glass darkly

we observe only the edges of this severe turbulence

the scars of our own journey dim our vision

we naively move towards you

thinking we see more than we do

the tremor hits us unaware,

a scream from that shut off place

the knees buckle from the shock

transparency is always a risky thing

the alternative, though, is simply a slow withering death

to walk naked in His Revelation and Light

love, acceptance and forgiveness

must rise along the same path

as our fears, self-doubts and failures

the discarding of the carnal baggage for His Healing Balm

requires grace, community and a lifetime

forever hindered by

the deceptive presence of false wholeness

“I have recovered…that’s behind me now…I’m over that”

“I can see clearly now the rain is gone”

we want to be there – recovered, made whole

so we convince ourselves, believe the words

and we cope - fabricating the tattered remains

into a patchwork picture of restoration

we walk it out, looking fine in the mirror

and to others, until…

until the light of His Glory shines

and the demons in the dark places cry out

lashing out at the instruments of His Peace

vulnerable vessels of His Grace

fleshing out their own transformation

wounded healers being healed themselves

by the River of Life

we move away in bewilderment and wonder

the barriers erected in our brokenness

are not easily overcome

still - we press on

knowing that the healing is in the oil not the vessel

and all gives way when He pours

Mark D. Cooke - 01/28/1998 - Revised, 3/19/2007