Wounded healers
“May our Lord Jesus Christ who walks on wounded feet,
walk with you.
May our Lord Jesus Christ who serves with wounded hands, serve with you.
May our Lord Jesus Christ who loves with a wounded heart, love with you.
And may you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet.
And may the blessing of God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you always. Amen!”
Borrowed from the Assisting priest Bill Ericson, at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Rev. Gurdon Brewster's wood and bronze sculpture Welcome Home in Chapel of Saint Augustine of Hippo at Cathedral College on grounds of Washington National Cathedral
It takes some time to realize how our own difficulties or what Stuart Hoke would call, our own darkness, are what make us able to know how to minister to others as well as to connect to Christ. When our woundedness is redeemed and worked through we are called to reach out to others who also have been wounded. It usually is not helpful or at all comforting to know this while we are being wounded or while the wounds are still raw and open, but with time, our prayers can be that we make it to the recovery room and move from victim to survivor and then hopefully to healer.
The scars do not go away, but are a reminder that we share these wounds with Christ and the rest of a suffering world. I do eventually give this prayer to spiritual friends who are seeking answers to their unreasonable suffering over time, hoping they may be able to connect their wounds to Christ. There are not answers, but hopefully we all can see how we are not alone and how the God we are trying to connect to also knows about suffering. God suffers with us and beside us and reaches out to us through God’s own presence and God’s own wounds to offer connection and healing.
Joanna joannaseibert.com