I gave it a soul and he took that soul to heaven for me, burying it deep within him as he did for everyone he healed.
Mary has first encountered Jesus. She is a broken woman, with a broken body, broken spirit and broken mind. She's cognitive enough to know she's broken, which is a horrible fate. Jesus meets her and healed her.
This part of the story I had envisioned many times. In Kristen Wheeler's vision, I appreciate a new part, or at least new to me. Jesus heals Mary by taking her wounds upon himself, as he does for everyone.
I've heard plenty of words about Jesus taking away the sins of the world. In my brain, it's as if that's a magic act. Sins here.. Poof, they're gone.. Magic. I don't suppose I've ever thought about a transaction that involves two people - me and Jesus. Or about the laws of physics, that if something exists it can change form or change place, but it does not disappear. Sins and pain and sorrow can't just disappear, although over time it can dissipate. Jesus takes that sin and pain and sorrow. At the cross, Jesus took a whole bunch of pain and sorry on his shoulders.
In my mortal world, I think about when a friend is in pain or sorrow or grief. I cannot necessarily make it go away, but I can share it, simply by my presence. And by sharing it, I can lessen it - even if for a little while.
Jesus does this but much much better. When we sit with Jesus, he shares our pain to the point of taking it all on himself.
In Kristen's vision, she also talks about Mary giving her old broken self a soul, and letting Jesus take it to heaven to bury it. I like this image. I have a loved one with schizophrenia. It's easy to blame this illness on evil or the devil. It's easy to want to banish that part of my loved one to hell. But it's a part of them. While it doesn't define them, it is them. And there is nothing about them that I would ever want to go to hell, even the worst parts. Their whole selves are heaven-worthy.
On a personal note, I have my own dark and twisted bits that I'd like banished. And I love the notion that these parts of me are buried in heaven. They don't define me, but they aren't separate from me. And they cannot be separated from me. Thank you Jesus, for having the compassion and cosmic space to take all of my dark bits, my loved one's trials, the world's woes, and bury them in a holy place. Through Jesus we can be renewed and transformed, because he keeps those parts.
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