Jesus Wants Your Feet: The Healing Power of Vulnerability

'Stories and Other Things Holy' Episode 13:

​

Watch 'Stories' on YouTube or Spotify​

Listen to "Stories' Here, or on your favorite podcast app

Support 'Stories' with Buy Me A Coffee​

Consider becoming a Supporting Member

Put Your Feet Up

The realm of Spirit and Soul is rich with paradox. I’ll admit, I’m not great with records or numbers, but it seems to me that in both our podcast and these warm-up reflections, we keep circling back to the same core themes and insights. This week is no exception.

I recently re-listened to the rough draft of this week’s podcast episode (one of the many perks of being on the creating side of podcasting: early and repeated access to draft after draft after draft!). A line that stopped me in my tracks was this:

"How is it that we spend so much energy protecting ourselves from the comfort that God aches to afford us?"

Paradox, paradox, paradox.

And so I find myself wondering, why on earth would we go to such lengths to fend off the comfort of God?

• We’re busy—so busy, in fact, that we don’t make time or space for comfort.
• We pride ourselves on being providers of comfort, not recipients of it.
• To receive comfort demands trust. It makes us vulnerable. And let’s be honest—both of those postures can feel precarious.
• Maybe we convince ourselves we don’t need comfort.
• Comfort is indulgent, frivolous. Isn’t it?
• Comfort is for kids.

But wait—how does that slightly edited line from Scripture go?
​"Unless you become like one of these little ones, you will not enter into holy communion with the Mystery of the Divine."

Perhaps this week’s story and the soulful riff that follows can render us just a little more open to the God who longs to touch the aching, weight-bearing, unsightly parts of us. The God who wants to ease our burdens, who aches to lavish us with comfort, who simply wants to hold us.

May we have the courage to put our feet up and let that grace in.

- Terry Nelson-Johnson

Grace-ercises

1. Receive God’s Comfort ​
   Take five minutes today to sit in stillness, with your feet on the ground and your hands open. Imagine God gently holding your feet—the aching, weight-bearing, vulnerable parts of you. Allow yourself to simply receive God’s comfort. How does it feel to let go of control and trust in God’s care?
   ​
2. Release the Burden ​
   Reflect on what burdens you’re carrying this week. Are there tasks, anxieties, or expectations weighing you down? In prayer, name those burdens before God and visualize setting them down. Ask for the grace to let God meet you in the mess and lighten your load.
   ​
3. Become Like a Child ​
   Children are often unafraid to ask for what they need and openly receive care. Pray today with the words: “Unless you become like one of these little ones…” What would it look like to approach God with childlike openness and trust? How can you invite that spirit into your day-to-day life?

​storiesandotherthingsholy.com​

​​​​​​​​