The lives of those fully engaged in the human struggle will be riddled with bullet holes. Whatever happened in the life of Jesus is in some way going to happen to us. Wounds are necessary. The soul has to be wounded as well as the body. To think that the natural and proper state is to be without wounds is an illusion. Those who wear bulletproof vests protecting themselves from failure, shipwreck, and heartbreak will never know what love is. The unwounded life bears no resemblance to the Rabbi. –Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning, Chapter 9, “The Rabbi’s Heartbeat”

A final highlight from reading Manning’s book. I choose to find it encouraging.

Jesus was barely breathing, it seemed, before someone was coming for him. Until it was finished, he never donned a bulletproof vest. He apparently agreed; wounds were necessary.

As a follower, a disciple, our hope is to resemble. That entails a few necessities about wounds:

• Expect them in full engagement.
• Taking a soul hit requires healing as much as a body hit; soul hits don’t indefinitely release us from living anymore than a flesh wound does. Respect and treat them the same.
• Our wounded Rabbi understands. Our hope rises through his wounds.

Photo by Frederick Shaw on Unsplash