the bent over woman

        In today's gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue when he sees a "bent-over" woman pass by. Without her requesting anything from him he calls her over, places his hands on her and suddenly she is no longer locked into her downward facing position.
        My back has been acting up for several days now and there have been mornings where standing up straight has been a challenge but it is slowly returning to normal. But imagine being stuck like that as this woman was for 18 years. Imagine only seeing the ground for that long and then unexpectedly being able to stand up straight and your first view of the surrounding landscape at this new angle is the face of Jesus. Dang. No wonder she was rejoicing.
        Is there anything keeping you bent in half these days? Are you carrying someone else's pain or choosing not to let go of some wound or offense? Let Jesus straighten that out for you. The change of scenery will do ya good....

graphic by Cortney L. Haley  from here