salvation in my bones . . .

This may sound funny for a clergy person-- "But I really do not like church people!" I suspect that it is not so much the people I do not like but the condition upon which I come to know these particular people.

I have this student that I really like. This students life is really screwed up. In fact this year this student has really been struggling-- however, what I like about this student is precisely how raw, how real, how deep, how profound this student feels. Someday if this student breaks through these struggles it will be possible for them to talk about "salvation" as if it resides in their bones.

I have been fighting with knee problems for about eight months. Some mornings I wake up and I can't hardly walk. The pain is so deep that it effect my facial/ relational interactions. A few months ago I just could handle the pain any more. I went to see a Ortho-Doc and he gave me a shot of steroids. In my bones I knew that something changed. I walked literally miles after that shot and I walked without pain. However, as the days passed I found out that steroids are not the stuff of healing.

I have this other student who is currently a parent outside of marriage. This student is maybe the coolest example of one who understands what it means to feel salvation in the bones. You see this students life is screwed up but s/he has decided that s/he can't fix it-- screwed up lives can't be fixed only lived into newness. I have watched this student become a parent with exceptional joy. I have seen him/her struggle to give their little one the essence of grace-- salvation that resides, not in the mind as a cognitive experience, but in the bones as a trans-formative gift offering new life.