Writing on the Ground

 Believe it or not, I remember one time in high school when I had a really bad cold. It must have been around Christmas time because the Christmas candle was shining in the window. I woke up in the middle of the night, coughing, nose stopped up, feeling generally miserable, not able to sleep. As I lay in bed trying to breathe, I began to wonder if Jesus had ever felt that way. After all, Jesus was both fully God and fully human, right?

 

Fast forward a few years. I was on a summer mission team in the NC Mountains. The team had been asked to help with The Happiness Retreat, a one-week camp for adults with physical and mental disabilities. At that point in my life, I didn’t have much experience working with persons with disabilities, so the beginning of the week was very hard for me. I remember watching the campers eat spaghetti on the first night and observing how difficult it was for them to get the food on their forks and into their mouths. I didn’t know how to help or if I should help or what to talk about or anything. Late one night, guitar in hand, I went outside to pray. While I prayed, I began to wonder if Jesus had ever felt like me—uncertain, heartbroken, but willing. After all, Jesus was both fully God and fully human, right?

 

While the gospels don’t mention a time when Jesus caught cold, they do mention a time when Jesus didn’t know what to say.

 

You have most likely heard the story. It’s the story of the woman caught in adultery. In this story, Jesus reminds us as the accusers that we have no right to cast the first stone while he reminds us as the accused that there is no condemnation in Christ. But the part that intrigues me is the part where Jesus bends down and writes on the ground. There is much speculation on what Jesus wrote, but maybe what he wrote doesn’t matter, because maybe what he was writing wasn’t anything of significance. Maybe he bent down because he was trying to think of what to say. After all, the Pharisees were trying to trick him and he needed to choose his words carefully. What better way to fill time than to doodle? And what better way to pray than to bend toward the ground?

 

Oh God, thank you for understanding our humanness—for getting hungry and tired and crying and not knowing what to say. Guide our words and actions and help us to follow you—you who knows exactly how we feel. Amen.