"Dear God, I'm Thirsty for Wholeness!"

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"May the God who gives peace make you holy in every way. May he keep your whole being-spirit, soul, and body-blameless when our Lord Jesus Christ comes." 1 Thessalonians 5:23 God's Word to the Nations

The hands captured in this picture grew up in Linz, Austria, the city that Hitler claimed as his hometown, a city that felt the devastating affects of war.

These hands saw troubles both created by the war and those that existed outside of war. These hands belong to a woman whose parents were divorced forcing her to live with her grandparents. She remembered a bomb that penetrated their home yet didn't explode. She recalled hearing that her father was sent to Siberia, a father she never saw again.

And today? Today she wrestles with cancer.

These hands belong to a woman of faith. But how are people's thirst for wholeness satisfied when their lives are shaped by tragedy? Many people have suffered much less than these hands have experienced and they've given up on God.

Paul prays that the Thessalonian Christians would be kept whole until the day of Christ's appearing. Wholeness today is rooted in the promise of tomorrow, a tomorrow of eternity spent with Christ. For some, these words are trite, but for those of us who live in the afterglow of Easter it is the reality to which we cling.

One day our thirst for wholeness will be realized. It is a day that is beyond our ability to comprehend. It is this promise, sealed in the blood of Christ, that will keep us whole until we realize its fulfillment.

For those of you who are history buffs, follow this link to a Youtube video showing the day that Linz was captured by the Americans, a day that these hands still remember. Capture of Linz Austria, May 5, 1945

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(Click on picture to enlarge.)

Text and Photographs ©Copyright 2012-2015 Douglas P. Brauner.  ARR.