Wounded Healer

Henri Nouwen's book The Wounded Healer popularized Jung's archetype drawn from mythology. Nouwen writes, “The man who articulate the movements of his inner life, who can give names to his varied experiences, need no longer be a victim of himself, but is able slowly and consistently to remove the obstacles that prevent the spirit from entering. He is able to create space for Him who heart is greater than his, whose eyes see more than his, and whose hands can heal more than his.” The He is Jesus. Not Dr. Oz.

In lay terms, our own wounds, properly healed, provide a path to help illuminate and create room for the healing of others' wounds.Ultimately, as our wounds are given to Jesus, the wounded healer Himself (by whose stripes we are healed), ministry arises. We all hurt, we all have been wounded, we carry scars both visible and invisible. God with us is also God wounded with us and for us.

Over a month ago, on my thrice weekly redemption run to the river and back, I had a crippling cramp in my right calf. I refused to stop running and toughed it on home. The next day, I could barely walk. So, I went to the local Rite-Aid and purchased a hot pad with a pouch inside of it that was to be microwaved like a packet of popcorn and then placed back in the pouch, and onto the cramped muscle. I strapped the hot pad onto my lower leg and waited for the soothing warmth to do its thing. Unfortunately, since my leg was already hurting pretty bad, like a leper I couldn't feel the scalding of my flesh and didn't see that I had badly burned myself until I peeled off the pouch from my leg and hour later. I don't know what degree of burn it was but it was serious.

The following morning I had a blister on my calf about the size of a coaster for a cup. It was the biggest blister I had ever seen. I waited a day or two before draining it with a sterilized needle. Then, I patched it with one of those large Band-Aids, about three times the size that we use for regular run of the mill boo-boos.

Since then, I treat the wound with antibiotic and change the Band-Aid weekly, keeping an eye out for infection. Slowly the burn is healing. By the time the healing is complete, I am convinced that my Costco jumbo-container of Band-Aids will be depleted. I am now able to use the regularly sized Band-Aids to treat the wound above.

This has caused me to reflect on healing in general from the greatest wound of all, the one that was created by the Fall. I think we as Believers can make two mistakes when it comes to salvation and sanctification. The first is the once we are saved, we won't struggle against sin anymore. Jesus paid it all and we now no longer face sin's tempting power. This is unrealistic and unwise. The other mistake is that as sinner and saint simultaneously, we are saved from sin's damning power yet we can still be in chains to it. Judicially innocent but practically still caught in sin's snare quite often. Both positions are distortions.

Sin's wounds and wounding, take time to heal. Yet, I have to wonder if someone who claims to be a Christian who does not experience real healing over time from the ravages of the sin nature, and still seems to be as helpless as he was prior to conversion, is a person who has really been saved. There should be evidence that God is at work. The wound gets smaller, we grow in grace. Crippling patterns of addiction are lessened. What used to be  a vicious cycle is now more often a victorious cycle. Jesus took the nails and no more are needed for His work to take hold in us.

My temptations revolve around eating and drinking too much. Not to the point of obesity or being a problem drinker but somewhere off-kilter where I know that I am not practicing moderation and am being driven more by my gut than God. James notes, we all stumble in many ways. But, when we stumble, it does mean we are moving. We may limp, but we are running in the right direction.