Paralytic's Pallet #1

This banner is a visualization of my reading (lectio divina) about the paralytic spoken of in John 5. He needed physical healing, not the law. So when he found a scroll of the law he fashioned it into a pallet, or cot, so that he could be carried to the pool at Bethesda where it was rumored that one could receive physical healing when “an angel stirred the waters.” After 38 years of visiting the pool daily, he happened to meet Jesus there and was healed.  Jesus told him, “Arise, take up your pallet and walk.” Jesus was using the carrying of the pallet to draw the Jews into a theological discussion.   But I wondered if Jesus wasn’t also acknowledging his initiative and perseverance.  I wondered what the invalid did with the dirty old pallet when he got it home. I imagined what I might do in his place after such a miraculous event---turn it into a banner of love.