January 27th

“When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" John 5:6

it is not just our bodies
etched in the dust of life,
it is our years of waiting as justice
is pressed flat into the ground—
but Jesus doesn’t begin mansplaining,
he doesn’t offer a sermon on suffering,
or even tell us to just try harder.
he looks—
that look which recognizes how long
pain has been rolling our names
around in its mouth and on its tongue.
and he offers a word—
not a paragraph, not a scolding,
but an invitation,
to leave the age-long ache behind,
to return our self-help books,
to set aside our survival gear,
to let go that identity others imposed.
and in hospital rooms and churches,
in shelters and on our devices,
in the streets where cruelty
tries to beat down compassion,
in those lives where hope and fear
compete for breath,
the question lingers in the air.
and we wonder, as we often do,
dare we meet the question honestly
or just stick where life has put us,
while Jesus waits,
not tapping his foot
or glancing at his watch,
but simply looking to see
if we will choose fullness of life
rather than the futility of fear.

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman