Saints
I cannot escape this body
of Christ and all its earthy,
imperfect parts:
arthritic hands slow to grasp,
unshod feet unwilling to move,
spindly limbs too weak to lift,
eternally underfed stomach,
cloudy eyes always squinting
and considering.
What would I be on my own?
Kneecap, single follicle,
unattached tip of little finger.
Together we can inch forward,
reach out again and again,
touch just the hem of His robe
and be healed.
1 Corinthians 12:12
Merrijane Rice works as Lead Editor for DMBA and serves as secretary on the Mormon Lit Lab board. Her poetry has been published by BYU Studies, Ensign, New Era, Segullah, Mormon Lit Blitz, and the Utah State Poetry Society. “Saints” appears in her poetry collection Grace Like Water (2020).
About the poem
►In 1 Corinthians 12:12, Paul uses a metaphor to help the early Saints understand that, like different members of one body, they need each other to be whole. Christ’s physical body was not perfected until after His resurrection. We also are not perfected in this life, but together we can move toward Him and become whole.
