“And one of them (Peter) struck the servant (Malchus) of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him”: Luke 22:50-51, ESV.
My imagination takes me places. As I read this event, I imagined the scene: Jesus betrayed by Judas, Peter coming to Jesus’ defense, lopping off Malchus’ ear, then Jesus intervening and performing His last miracle. Wowzer. What if the healing left Malchus with a tilted ear? Of what would he be reminded every time he touched it or looked at it in the mirror? Well, here goes my imagination.
Crooked Ear
Malchus shuddered
With pain and fear.
When in the garden
He lost an ear.
Peter lopped it with his sword
By Jesus’ touch, it was restored.
Jesus plucked it from the sand and dirt
Relieved was Malchus of his hurt.
A vivid memory Christ did plant
When He fixed the ear, but with a slant.
So, every time, when in a mirror he looked
Malchus saw that his ear was crooked.
Reminded him always, of that very event;
And, that Christ was the Savior, Who God had sent.
At first a tragedy, or so it seemed
But it led Malchus to be redeemed.
Richard L. Brewer
Published by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com
I am Richard Brewer—a Christ-follower, psychologist, husband, father, grandfather (Papa) sometimes writer, and lifelong student of people.
For much of my professional life, I've had the privilege of sitting with people as they wrestle with some of life's most difficult questions—questions about faith, suffering, grief, relationships, identity, failure, hope, and what it means to live well.
Those conversations have changed the way I see people and the way I understand my own faith. They have taught me that life is rarely as simple as our explanations of it, that people are almost always more complicated than they appear, and that sometimes the wisest response to a difficult question is to empathize and to keep asking better questions.
I am a committed Christ-follower, but I am not interested in pretending that Christianity eliminates mystery or that faith means having an answer for everything. Faith invites us to pursue truth honestly, to think deeply, to acknowledge what we do not know, and ultimately to trust the God we do know.
Mediocre Meanderings is where I explore some of those questions.
I write about faith and psychology, grief and suffering, leadership and relationships, aging and ordinary life—and occasionally whatever else catches my attention along the way.
I do not write from the perspective of someone who has figured life out. I write as someone who has lived enough of it to know that I have not.
These are my thoughts, questions, observations, and occasional attempts at wisdom. Take what is useful. Challenge what is not. And, if you would like, meander along with me.
View all posts by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com