Psalm 6
"Heal me"
In many Christian spaces salvation is primarily understood to be "forgiveness." Our pressing problem is guilt.
To be sure, guilt and shame haunt us. But for my part, this understanding of our predicament doesn't cut deep enough. For within myself I sense a great instability. A brokenness, a fragility. A crack. I am weak. I wobble and waver. I am unsteady. Perpetually confused and frustrated with myself. I am not well. Not yet whole and healthy.
I imagine you sense this also about yourself. If you do, you know the ache behind the petition: "Heal me." There is a tear within us that needs mending, a sickness that needs medicine. A bleeding that needs stanching and a wound that needs stitching. We are ailing, injured, and feverish. And so we pray, with tears on our cheeks: "Heal me."
I understand that Christians think that this is only the work of the mystical, but we also must participate, whether this means spending time making sense of what happened to us, or finding self-acceptance, or seeing the world a bit differently and accepting that. Did we do something, or is this a recognition of as humans we are broken? It seems like regardless of where this comes from, there is always intentional work to be done, because if not, these things go inward or outward in ways that are not always healthy.
This idea is transformational as long as it is accepted with grace. Yes, I am broken. Yes, I am a sinner. But in spite of this, I am accepted. It is essential to regaining the “naked yet unashamed” status.