A Sword

Luke 22:49–51

When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” Then one of them struck the slave 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.

John 18:10–11

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. 
Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath.
Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Steel flashes in the dark.
Drops of blood fall to the ground.
It is instinctive to defend.
Instinctive to strike.
Instinctive to believe that force will protect what we love.
Jesus says, “No more of this.”
And he heals the wound.

Reflect

•       Where do I react before I pause?
•       What anger rises quickly in me?
•       What do I grip tightly — certainty, control, being right?

Hold your stone again. If defensiveness, fear, or anger surface,
let them be absorbed, in your imagination, into the stone.
Let its weight increase.
Violence promises control.
Jesus chooses healing.

When you are ready, continue.