re-storied

to restore
is to be re-storied
to take a story being told
our story being lived
and to write a new chapter

to restore
is to be re-storied
to take the story we tell ourselves
about us
about God
and to re-frame it
to hear the story God is telling us

to restore
is to be re-storied
to take something old and unused
or lacking in some way
and to transform it
to give it new life

to restore is to heal
to restore is to bring back into alignment
the body and soul
to take that which is broken
and to make it whole again
to restore is to do more than make better
deeper than physical healing
to be restored is to look into the eyes of Jesus and feel no shame
to look into the eyes of Jesus and to feel whole
even when living through pain
to be restored is to take that which was – or felt – less than,
and to fill it to overflowing with a new story of life

you can be restored in your deepest parts
in the midst of pain and sorrow
to be restored is not to be pain-free or to be healed
though it may include that

you can be restored without being healed
and healed without being restored

to be restored is to be Matthew the tax collector
given a new community of friends who no longer hated him
it is to be Mary Magdalene, shunned or avoided
and then dramatically
included
to be restored is to be the woman who was bleeding for 12 years
suddenly no longer a pariah
to be restored is to be healed of paralysis and of sin
and to not quite know how how they relate
to be restored is on God’s terms, not ours
because it is god’s story he is telling and we are part of

god’s story is that he restores us fully
wholly
so that we are holy
our scars and frailties part of our beauty
our pain part of our life
but our wrongs washed away
a clean heart and a new spirit created in us

to be restored
is to be re-storied
and the story does not always go how we want it to
when it comes to what we call healing
maybe that’s because our understanding of healing
needs to be re-storied too.

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This was part of our Lent evening service reflection on the characteristics of Jesus we would like to align ourselves with, in this case ‘Jesus who restores’. Why does that mean, how does it relate to healing, wholeness and redemption.