It Takes Community

Yesterday, I spent the day at a hospital with a friend of mine who's husband was having surgery. Do you know how many people it takes to prepare someone for surgery, do the surgery, post-operative care and then for rehabilitation after surgery? Think about it - an admitting clerk signed him in, someone else walked him to the surgery center; another one ID'd him and confirmed his identity; a nurse prepped him with IVs medications, etc; an anesthesiologist conversed with him; a pharmacist prepared the IV medications; someone to wheel him to the OR; then in the OR a nurse, physician, resident physician, anesthesiologist, OR tech and let alone the number of people who prepared and sterilized all the equipment; then to recovery room with recovery nurses and the list could keep on going. What an amazing number of people (12-15 so far on this list alone) it took to care for someone who needed healing.

I believe this is a picture of how many people it takes in my faith community to assist me in the healing process for any of my brokenness or for any one's brokenness. It is not just one person who can do it - it is a community of people committed to the process of healing.

Do I as a broken person allow this many people to help me be healed? Not very often.

Or do I, as a person who is a part of the process of someone else's healing willing to make the intentional commitment to be a part of the puzzle that brings wholeness? Sometimes

The bottom line is - healing from our woundedness was not meant to be lived like a game of solitaire. It is meant to be a process with a team of people; practicing and playing and actively involved in the game! And sometimes, it takes more commitment to someone's healing than I am willing to give. God...help me to be totally sold out for others above myself.