Broken

A young woman finds faith after a fall. She is strengthened by the embrace of a loving community.

Rosa, the color of baked clay, crushed her right ankle as her foot landed on the bathroom counter.  Her fractured hope to dance again heated her blood.  She lay on the floor.  Who would hear her cry?

After calling an ambulance, this young woman, Rosa, explained that she was rehearsing a solo in her apartment for an upcoming dance performance and she made the mistake of practicing her routine in a confined space.  At the hospital, the doctor said returning to normal would require surgery.  Rosa agreed.

Rosa discussed her condition with her church.  She apologized for her inability to perform in the liturgical dance recital on Easter Sunday.  Rosa wondered if a woman's body should be on display in a worship service.  Christianity involved body worship and Rosa needed to tend to her soul.

The church body was torn over the inclusion of depictions of a suffering messiah.  The debate whether to include a crucifix in the church assembly separated denominations.  Catholics and Orthodox Christians relied on icons to tell stories in the Bible.  Protestant pastors persuaded churchgoers through passages in the Bible and the desire to live the 'abundant life.'  Rosa now suffered and began to question how God could physically suffer.  She chose to accept God's incorporeality and his unity as unique, apart from the social cohesion humans can exhibit.  We gather together, but we do not become one as God is one.  God is Reality, of which humans only play a part.

Whom could Rosa rely on?  The church attempted to dissuade Rosa from undergoing surgery and instead demanded she pray for healing in Jesus' name.  They challenged her to walk without crutches and cited miracles in the Bible as evidence of God's power.

Rosa's friend Zahara, a Muslim neighbor, sought to be the voice of reason.  Zahara argued that in each prophet's time miracles were performed that reflected the heights of knowledge or spirituality in their time.  For Musa, the magic arts were most notable.  For Isa, it was medicine.  When Isa returns, Zahara warned that he will break the cross as prophesied so Christians will stop false worship.  Musa liberated the people from the idolatry of Pharoah's time.  Isa will end the misconception that he died on the cross and was resurrected.  "Islam will soon be established throughout the earth," Zahara declared, "because now we have the miracle of the Qur'an."

Zahara asked why Rosa danced in her bathroom.  Rosa confided, "I wanted the performance to be perfect."  Zahara comforted Rosa, "Who asked you to be perfect?"

Rosa wondered, "Is dance a form of worship?"  "No," Zahara assured.  "You can be close to God through prayer.  I'll teach you how to pray.  In sujood, when your forehead is to the floor, you are nearest to God in humility."

After Rosa could not perform at church on Easter Sunday, her Christian friends said she had changed significantly and cited her injury as a weakness or crisis of faith.  They believed if she really devoted herself to Jesus, she would be physically healed through prayer.  Rosa in time did heal.  She worked with doctors and physical therapists to walk and bicycle again.  Life returned to normal.  Only something new happened.  Rosa adopted the "sacred norm" Islam presented.

While Rosa's Christian friends abandoned her because they considered Rosa someone who lost favor with God, Zahara embraced Rosa in a circle of compassion.  Zahara introduced Rosa to Islam and Muslim women who dressed modestly, fasted regularly and prayed daily.  Rosa focused on submission to Allah and began to pray Islamically.

The competition in the church was for attention.  Who could sing?  Who could dance?  Who could preach?  Who could perform?

Islam invites people to direct their gaze toward Allah, to direct their prayers to God and to accept His guidance.  Isa broke the cross, but we are not broken.  Together in community we are strengthened through our ability to surrender to the will of Allah.  That is the good news.