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# Siloam
- URL: https://mereorthodoxy.com/siloam/
- Published: 2025-07-31T11:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-18T14:46:02.000Z
- Description: A poetic meditation on hurt and healing
- Author: Mere Orthodoxy
- Tags: Joel Kurz, Poetry, Journal, Spring 2025

This body of broken bones,  
long healed, carries  
my still soul-wounded self  
up this hillside, turning  
each internal question  
with each external step—  
careful of the rocks and roots  
as much as the ruts  
worn in my mind.  
How many have stood here  
at the base of this cross,  
wrestling with their whys  
or simply breathing the air  
of gratitude because the weight  
and wait are gone?  
Jesus asked those in his day  
if the eighteen crushed to death  
under the collapsed tower,  
same-named as this mountain,  
were worse sinners for their fate  
and answered No while calling all  
to turn from their destructive ways.  
He spit on the ground, made mud  
with his hands, and smeared it  
on a blind man’s eyes, then sent him  
to the same-named pool  
to wash and finally see.  
So I go, the mud on my face  
and ache in my heart  
commending—not condemning—me  
to every other struggling soul  
heading toward the cleansing water  
and the clear new light of day.

*Originally published in the spring 2025 Mere Orthodoxy print journal. To become a member and receive future issues,* [*join today*](https://mereorthodoxy.com/subscribe)*.*