Scan Me!

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:34-36 NIV)

So I went through security twice for this past two week book tour. Once when I left Spokane, WA, (home) and the other when I left Charlotte, NC to travel back home. I did something I'd never thought I would--went through the full body scanner. And I was thrilled to do so!

"Oh, I'm so excited. I get to go through the full body scan. Oh, which line has it?" I jumped back and forth after properly loading my shoes, jacket, laptop, and backpack into gray bins. The TSA employee stared at me with a perturbed look. I think she expected trouble, but wasn't sure what kind.

I was instructed to raise my arms and stand within the designated area between two rounded walls, ready to scan my outside and innards. The whirring began and I smiled big. Like I was having a family portrait done. How embarrassing. But I wasn't embarassed.

For years I traveled with all kinds of medical equipment in my carry on or hooked up to me. The full body scan was a no-no and could kill me. Once, after getting a bit too close to one in an airport security entrance, I suffered shock at home due to a malfunction with my machinery. I came too close to dying. From then on, I went as far as to enter into yelling matches and be escorted to a security area for interrogation, all to avoid those killer machines. TSA security, airline pilots and stewards, and security, all exhibited ignorant and contempulous attitudes when I tried to explain their security measures could kill me.

I'm just a special case, was my secret reply to their disdain.

Since my pancreas transplant on May 12, 2012, I am free. No more medical equipment hooked up to my body. No more carry on filled with machinery. I can go through a full body scan safely. The only thing I carry is a bag with containers for the 38 pills I take each day and surgical masks to protect me from germs. I travel with a backback only. It makes me feel young and healthy; alive and blessed.

What machinery of stress, sadness, pain, sorrow, or tragedy is holding you down? You don't need a transplant to be free. You need simply to believe Jesus is your liberator.

Go ahead, walk through the scanner! You are free indeed!