Coming out

John 11:38-44

Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Coming out

Not an end -

there is still a great unravelling

to be encountered

Unravelling that can only be completed

in stages

alone

and

in community

Nor is it a beginning -

All that has gone before remains

craving attention

imploring sifting

demanding confrontation

Neither an ending

nor a beginning

but a stage

on the road to healing

And the miracle in healing

is the capacity

the temerity

and the resilience

to examine the past

to greet the future

and to stay well in the present.

Coming out

one stage

on the road to wholeness.