Down the blasted steps I went again and ended up with the bookcase atop me. I have got to figure out how to get up and down the stairs safely when I am this weak.

It was a day of joy, truly, though many dark moments lingered. The greatest joy was Divine Service.  Yes, I had the Lord's Supper!

Of course, getting there was so difficult, shuffling step by step.  The pain has greatly been reduced, but it returns when I am on my feet long.  And when I stand, my legs tremble like two columns of jello. 

With the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ still lingering in my mouth and filling my heart, I thought I would offer a wee bit of Luther.  It is one of the quotes I chose for one of Pastor F's bulletins.  Ostensibly, I am choosing for his flock, but really I chose this one for me.  I chose the reminder and the comfort and the sweet, sweet Gospel.

We are tangible creatures.  We are sense creatures.  We taste and touch and smell and hear and see.  We live in and through and with our bodies.  Even when we wish we could escape them, they are a holy work of God, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  But God knows us, understands us.  In the Book of Concord, Luther teaches that God, in His infinite wisdom and unending care, gives us water and bread and wine so that our bodies can have something to grasp in order that our souls might believe. He teaches us this gift in the Large Catechism, but he sings of it in this bit from a sermon of his below:

In our day, in the time of the New Testament, God has given us Baptism, the Sacrament of the Altar, and absolution to bring Christ very close to us, so that we can have Him not only in our heart but also on our tongue, so that we can feel Him, grasp Him, and touch Him. God did all this for the sake of those shameful spirits who seek God according to their own pleasure, with their reason and their own ideas and dreams. To make it possible for us to recognize Him, God presents Himself to us perceptively and clearly in signs....Thus we perceive God not only with our hearts but also with our eyes and our hands, for He gives us a tangible and visible sign of Himself. At all times God has so governed His people that He could also be recognized visibly by them, lest they say: “If it were possible to find God, we would roam to the ends of the earth in search of Him.” If you had ears to hear, it would be needless to wander far in search of God. For He wants to come to you, plant Himself before your very eyes, press Himself into your hands, and say: “Just listen to Me and take hold of Me, give Me eye and ear; there you have Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar. Open your mouth, let Me place My hand on your head. I give you this water which I sprinkle over your head.”

Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther's Works, Vol. 22 : Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 1-4. Saint Louis : Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1957 (Luther's Works 22), S. 22:vii-421


Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief!