The five of us had been friends for as long as I can remember. I’ve joked over the years that we were so close we probably came from the same mother. Okay, so we didn’t look alike. We all grew up in the same neighborhood. If the five of us weren’t at one house, then we were at another. Usually, one of our mothers would get tired of us boys being boys and send us to the next house. We did everything together. We played games together. We went to school together and a lot of the time we ate together. Whoever’s house we were at when it was time to eat, we did.
As we grew, so did our bond. When someone picked a fight with one of us, they really were picking a fight with all five of us. Whenever one of us got a new tunic, we would give our old one to whoever needed it. We also helped each other with school. I guess what I am saying is when one rejoiced we all rejoiced. When one experienced sorrow, we all did. At that time, I had no idea how long this bond would last or how far it would go.
The accident that paralyzed me from the neck down happened on a hot and muggy day. Being teens, we went off on our own to the local swimming hole. It was extremely crowded there that day, so we decided to go down a ways. We had never swam there before, but it certainly looked okay. I felt I had to be the show off that particular day, so I disrobed quickly, then ran and dove head first into the water. Yep. Sure enough, there was a rock ledge under the water that I didn’t know about. Instantly, my spine was snapped. The other guys thought I was joking around when I didn’t surface, but then they jumped in and found me in the murky water and got me to the surface for air.
They carried my limp body to my parent’s house. The local doctor was summoned, but there was nothing he could do but confirm my parent’s concerns. I would never walk again or do anything on my own ever again but breathe. I was thankful to be alive, but in some ways, I would have rather died that day. For this was life, but it was not really living.
Days turned to months. I finally accepted my new life. I finally accepted someone having to feed me, clean me, and, worst of all, change me. My buddies still came and got me. They would still involve me as much as I could to be involved. Whenever they played games, I would watch, and if there were any disputes, they turned to me to settle them. As we all got older, our attention turned to girls. At first, the guys thought I would be a drag, but as it turned out, I was usually the one the girls felt the most comfortable being around. Maybe that’s because I was safe. I couldn’t touch them. There were only two parts to me that could still move. My eyes and my mouth. Believe me, I learned to use them to draw the girls in.
I would use my mouth to make the girls come over to us guys. I would say things like, ’ Who wants to ride on a flying carpet?’’ Or when I would be talking to a young girl, I would say, ‘’I promise never to leave you!’’ Another girl I told, ‘’Look at the bright side. You will always know where I am hanging out.’’ Once, I told a young lady if we were to get married, not to say, ‘’You lazy pig! You constantly lie around doing nothing.’’ She didn’t think that was very funny. My buddies laughed. When a woman would get close to me, she would usually tell me that I had pretty eyes. It’s not like she could flirt by saying I was fast or strong.
No matter how charming I was with my words, I was never able to convince a woman to marry me. And why should she? It would be a lot to take on. Not to mention me not being able to pull my own weight around the place. So, I watched my buddies all get married and start their families. Sure, we would all still get together, but it just wasn’t the same. I never believed they felt sorry for me. If they did, I wouldn’t have seen it. I thought this was how my life would go until I died. I tried to stay optimistic, but honestly, there were moments I would feel sorry for myself. I often wondered what good could come out of this.
One day, all of my buddies came running into the house. They were all talking loudly at the same time. They were so excited about the same thing, it seemed, but I couldn’t make out what it was. I got them to settle down long enough for one of them to be able to catch his breath and tell me what they were all trying to say to me. Apparently, there was a man named Jesus in town. The word on the street was this man had the power to heal people of anything. It was too good to be true, I thought.
They grabbed me and put me squarely on my mat. Each one grabbed a corner, and off we went. Their speed was incredible. I’m sure I enjoyed this speed when I was younger. I asked the guys to slow down, but they didn’t and said something like they didn’t want to miss this. My body bounced all over that mat. I wish I could have hung on, but… um no.
They turned a corner and came to an abrupt stop. I asked, “What is it?” “The crowd,” they said. “It is so great!” They froze. I could tell each one was doing their best to problem solve. Then one of my buddies shouted, “Look! Jesus is in that house over there!” Another buddy sighed as he said, “Of course. The house with the largest crowd outside of it. What are we going to do?” Then, it hit them all about the same time. “The roof!” “Yes, of course,” said another. “It will work! It has to work. That is the only way to get him in front of Jesus.” I said, “Are you all crazy?” Collectively, they all responded, “YES!”
So off we went. They found some stairs that led to the roofs. When we got to the roof above Jesus, they set me down. Okay, honestly, they dropped me. Three of them got on their knees and started digging with their hands frantically. You would have thought they were digging for gold or something valuable. I guess to them, me being healed was. I was thinking, “I hope no one recognizes me, Ha! But who am I kidding? Everybody knows or has heard of me.”
As my buddies started getting through the roof, you could hear the people below yelling and complaining about chunks of roofing materials hitting them in the head. I was about to tell my buddies to stop and to put everything back, but I didn’t for two reasons: 1) the damage had been done, and 2) there was no stopping these guys. They wholeheartedly believed what they had been told about this man, Jesus. It’s like they knew he could heal me without any doubts in their minds.
After they had completed making the hole big enough, the fourth buddy returned with some rope. They fastened the rope to each corner of my mat. Then they pushed me through the hole. I don’t know if they had more faith in Jesus or in those ropes holding me. Now, the crowd below understood what was going on. Those who could reached up and helped me down, and they positioned me in front of Jesus.
I looked into his eyes. I wanted to apologize for my buddies’ enthusiasm and for them making such a mess. I wanted to say to Jesus, “I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up before I go.” But of course, I knew I couldn’t. Actually, I couldn’t speak at all. I just looked into his eyes, and I saw love, wisdom, peace, and power. Jesus didn’t know me, but he knew why I was there. He looked up at my buddies still on the roof, and he smiled at them. He waived as if to say, “Good job guys. You get me.” Then he turned and looked at my limp body. It was as if, at that moment, he had seen all my tears and hurts and all the times I had asked God to heal me. Again, he looked up at my buddies and said, “Because of the faith of your friends, take up thy bed and walk.”
I felt a fire go through my body. I felt my bones get hard. Actually, I realized at that moment that I could feel everything again below my neck. So I quickly obeyed as if before he would change his mind. I got out of the prison that had held me down for so long. For some, their prison is actual bars. For others, it’s their sins, but for me, it was my health. Not anymore. I stood up. I slowly took a step and then another. I turned back to look at Jesus. I smiled so big. He smiled, too. I told him I was so grateful. He just said, “I know.” The people were applauding, cheering, celebrating. I looked up at my buddies. They were so happy as well, but tears of joy were flowing down their faces. Oh, as for the roof, I paid out of the family trust for all of the proper repairs to be made. I secretly kept a piece of the roof, though. It was a reminder of what Jesus had done for me, not that I needed it, but mainly as a testament to the faith of my buddies. Faith that says, “I believe even though I don’t know how I believe.”
(The actual account can be found in the Bible. Luke 5:17-26)
If you have never had your own encounter with Jesus Christ, know that you can. He is waiting for you to accept his offer of forgiveness for your sins. With that begins a relationship that brings hope, encouragement, comfort, and guidance with the added bonus of eternal life. Along the way, you can ask for help with anything. Problems in life, relationships, and healing. Having a relationship with Jesus is the best thing you will ever do with your life. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are real. So are heaven and hell. There are no other alternatives. Encounter Jesus and change your life.
Copyright © 2025 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.
Be quiet mind,
Old Testament time: Mankind was given “time” by God. He created light, and separated it from dark. He called the light “day”, and the dark “night”. That was day one. (Gen. 1:3-5) Pastor Robert Morris says, time gives us stability, and rhythm to life. During eternity, there will be no need for time. Jesus operates in a whole different realm than we do. He is not bound by time. He can go back in time, and forward in time, in no time.
You might be asking, “How would I know?”
brady, mark a. 