Jesus had a wonderful way of asking questions. You may know the story well. Jesus sees a man lying on his mat, having been in that state for 38 years. And Jesus asks Him, “Do you want to be made whole?” (John 5:6) What does it mean to “be made whole”? What does wholeness look like?
The problem isn’t always the real problem. Taking Tylenol when you have a fever doesn’t cure the infection. Mowing the grass doesn’t take out the weeds. It was the under-the-surface part of the iceberg that sank the Titanic. You need a cure, not a Band-Aid. Whatever metaphor you choose, problems won’t get better unless you get to the stuff underneath the surface.
The little olivewood creche was special to me ever since I had purchased it at a little tourist shop in Bethlehem. Travel and several moves later it was badly broken, not much more than a pile of wooden pieces. But I couldn’t get rid of it.
