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What My Knee Rehab Taught Me about the Body

(Image by u_puw75baxua from Pixabay) 

The two previous posts were about how my physical therapist’s initial session with me helped me get a good perspective on what to expect. He told me that pain is not to be avoided but is actually part of the process of recovery. He told me that I needed to take a long-term approach to the whole matter: if I try to measure my progress day by day, I’ll get discouraged (as many do). Instead, I should think about my progress week by week. 

But there is one more thing I noticed, and it’s not anything the therapist said. It’s something Paul said.

HOW THE BODY WORKS

There are a few verses in Scripture that remind me of specific moments in my life. Sometimes I’ll write a personal note in the margin of my Bible to remind me of the time that verse came to life in my experience.

The human body was one of Paul’s favorite metaphors for the church. The different parts of the body are, like the different members of a local fellowship, interdependent on one another. Different parts have different functions, and they are all valuable to the overall health of the body.

Our bodies are, as the psalmist has it, “fearfully and wonderfully made.” We shiver when we are cold, as our bodies try to generate heat. When we have a cut in our skin, white blood cells rush to the site of the wound to fight infection.

Our bodies are designed to rush to the aid of any part of the body that is in distress. 

Over the past weeks, a sentence from Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth has taken on a whole new dimension of meaning for me: “If one member suffers, all suffer together…” (1 Cor 12:26).

I’ve seen this text illustrated over the past weeks, on both a personal level and on a corporate level.

Personally, I have focused all my attention on my knee, the part of my body that is injured and in need of help. I have stayed home from work; I haven’t even gone to church (which is weird). My days consist of doing my stretches, icing my knee, and resting. 

Not much else is going on in my life right now; my knee is claiming almost all my attention. Rehabbing my knee is a full-time job.

The same is true of my wife. She has not only taken up the household responsibilities I used to managed, but she is also taking care of me. That too has been a full-time job for her. 

Two adults are bending all their attention to my knee. Why? Because my left knee is the part of us that is in greatest need. One part (my knee) is suffering, and the attention of the whole household has revolved around that singular joint and its recovery.

WHAT IS TRUE IN MY BODY IS ALSO TRUE IN OUR BODY

In a larger sense, we have sensed the body at Patterson Park Church rallying to our aid. Our household is experiencing this difficulty, and so many have responded so graciously!

The cards (two dozen at last count), the emails, the phone calls…

And the food! I’ve lost count of the number of people who have dropped by with food for us. Our refrigerator is perpetually stocked with delicious food brought to us by concerned friends from church. It is literally overwhelming, both in quantity and in quality!

And here is where I must again sing the praises of our deaconesses. This sort of ministry – tending to the needs of people in our congregation – is their primary focus, and they excel at it. I’ve known for a long time that they keep their ear to the ground to discover who has needs, and then they organize to meet those needs. They write cards, they cook and deliver meals. They visit the sick and care for the hurting members of our body.

But now that we are on the receiving end of their efforts, I am beyond impressed.

To top it off, the youth pastor brought a crew of teens to our house this week to help with weeding and mulching, tasks I cannot help with right now. 

Our fellowship has taken on our burdens and provided us with all of this generous help, and we have sensed that we are not alone in all this. We are surrounded by a caring community of spiritual siblings.

Not a day has gone by without some communication of care and support from the body at PPC, and we have seen the body at PPC bring the Scripture to life in our lives: “When one part of the body suffers, the entire body suffers.” 

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