We All Take Turns on the Mat
Physical Healing and Wholeness: A Holistic Approach
Reflection By Scott Stoner
Then some people came bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay.
- Mark 2:3,4
When we read the story where Jesus heals a man lowered through the roof of a house on a mat (Mark 2:1-12), we learn an essential truth about Christian community: we all will take turns on the mat.
In every life, to everything there is a season. When our physical, emotional, and spiritual strength is strong, we can be like one of the four friends doing the carrying of the paralyzed man on the mat. Metaphorically, we can climb rooftops, and do whatever it takes to help a friend. At such times we can live out Jesus’ call to bear one another’s burdens.
But eventually, life humbles us all. Hard things happen to good people. It may happen when illness strikes. Or when we are overwhelmed by grief. Or when depression or anxiety paralyzes us. There are many ways we can become immobilized. In these seasons of vulnerability we discover the power of our faith and the power of community and that it is not weakness, but wisdom, the wisdom to acknowledge our need to be carried.
The question isn’t whether we will need the mat and the support of others at some point, but whether we will have the courage and humility to ask for the help we need.
Making It Personal: How comfortable are you asking for help when you are in need? And is there someone in need that you feel called to embody the healing power of Christ, and to offer Christian community to right now?