Always Worth Saving.

I had this vision in my head, and I tried to think of a way to bring it to life, to create it, to paint it, to see it before me.It’s the most dated of poems, the oldest of stories, the most seasoned of tales. I will never be able to do it justice, but with the tools I have, the gifts entrusted to me, I will write about the beauty of the cross that no human artistry could ever convey perfectly. It’s the Love that is beyond us, the understanding of something so passionate that we will never fully wrap our heads around.It is the answer to all the hows, the thought of being impossible to love, all the lies of unworthiness.I’m a nutrition major, which means my classes are all about the body. I spend the majority of my days reading textbooks for different subjects that all say generally the same thing: your body, your mind, your vital organs, and your cells keep you alive. Even when you make unhealthy food decisions, even when one organ doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to, even when you do everything in your power to destroy it, your body will continue using every resource it has to keep you alive until your last breath. It doesn’t know any different. Your lungs don’t have the capacity to grow a brain and say, “We don’t really want to do this function anymore. Let’s just stop.” Your blood cells will never be able to consciously decide, “We don’t want to work this way anymore.” It is the way they are programmed. It is all they know how to do, and they will continue fighting on your behalf for your survival.When viruses enter your body, your cells are alerted, and war immediately breaks out inside your body. Your body will fight it until the virus can't hurt you.When we say that God is good, we mean that He is good because He can be nothing else; that is how he is programmed. What He sees is good because that is all it can ever be, and he will fight on our behalf."For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14).The artwork of humanity created by the perfect Artist is just that. It is perfect. And even when we mess up, grace grabs us by the hand. The good Artist will forever see what He has fearfully and wonderfully made; He will only ever be able to see goodness within you.Such as the internal makeup of our body knows to attack viruses and infections, when the sin of the world grabs hold of us and twists our thoughts and lies to us, like the liver purifies the blood, the jealousy of God attacks.This is mine. This is my body. This body is worth saving. My faith is in the Artist to restore his masterpieces that we may be able to continue for His glory, for it will be the only lens we wear, the only purpose and the only function we know. Just as the liver purifies the blood, the Blood purifies our soul and reminds us that it is the sin within us He wants to destroy. His jealousy is out to bring us back to awareness. His grace is out to rescue.words by Lauren McLemore and photo by Sarah Mohan