When Fragments Make a Whole

When Fragments Make a Whole: A Personal Journey through Healing Stories in the Bible

“This book is a work of imaginative devotion rather than a product of scholarship, and incorporates facts and observations that have been interesting and helpful to me. The stories drawn from my personal life are included as my testimony to the power of the Healing Spirit, which I can only offer from my own point of view. I am convinced that this healing activity, or at least potential, can be found in anyone’s life if one looks in the right way.” — Lory Widmer Hess

In this candid and courageous book, Lory Widmer Hess describes her experience of inner transformation through her exploration of healing stories in the Gospels. In a unique blend of poetry, commentary, and autobiography, she describes how she engaged with and drew inspiration from those stories. Her approach will inspire readers on their own journey of spiritual growth.

During a difficult time in her life, Lory turned to the accounts of Jesus’ work on Earth for comfort and inspiration. She wrote poems about the lives of people who had been touched by Christ and, over several years, added personal reflections that explore the difficulties she was facing in her marriage, the challenges of raising a family, and setbacks in her career. Gradually, she learned forgiveness and self-acceptance.

This powerful book shows how we can connect our experiences to the Gospel stories in a creative way that allows us to draw strength from them. At the end of each chapter, the essential meaning of the story is distilled into a simple, contemplative phrase. Readers interested in Christian spirituality will turn to this unique and remarkable book again and again for inspiration and contemplation.

C O N T E N T S:

Preface
Introduction

1. A Man with an Unclean Spirit
2. A Woman with a Fever
3. A Leper
4. An Invalid by the Pool of Bethesda
5. A Man with a Withered Hand
6. A Centurion’s Servant
7. The Young Man of Nain
8. A Demon-possessed Man in the Tombs
9. A Bleeding Woman with a Dying Girl
10. A Gentile Woman’s Daughter
11. A Deaf Man
12. A Blind Man
13. A Boy with Seizures
14. A Woman with a Disabling Spirit
15. A Man with Dropsy
16. Ten Lepers
17. A Blind Man of Jericho
18. Lazarus

Appendices:
1. The Anthroposophical View of Christ and Human Evolution
2. The Healing Stories in the Synoptic Gospels

Notes
Bibliography

About the Author

Lory Widmer Hess grew up near Seattle, Washington. When she encountering Anthroposophy at the age of twenty-six, it set her on a long journey of exploration and discovery that included studies at Sunbridge College, Eurythmy Spring Valley, and the Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Lory has been a book editor for the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America and has worked for a number of anthroposophic organizations, most recently in communities serving adults with developmental disabilities. She currently lives with her family in Switzerland and is in training as a spiritual director. Visit her website and blog at enterenchanted.com.