Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Brokenness

The great mystery of God's love is that we are not asked to live as if we are not hurting, as if we are not broken. In fact, we are invited to recognize our brokenness as a brokenness in which we can come in touch with the unique way that God loves us. The great invitation is to live your brokenness under the blessing. I cannot take people's brokenness away and people cannot take my brokenness away. But how do you live in your brokenness? Do you live your brokenness under the blessing or under the curse? The great call of Jesus is to put your brokenness under the blessing.

- Henri J.M. Nouwen
Lecture at Scarritt-Bennett Center
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your last post, "Dancing with stars," seems to beg the question of this post. Can we finally learn from these dancers and so place our brokenness under the blessing Nouwen talked of?

3:53 PM
Impossibleape said...

Hi Steve

I guess it has always been the case that those who recognize no need of a physician will not find comfort, they will not need nor find healing (a loaded word that I use cautiously), and will continue to consider the 'doctor/redeemer' to be irrelevant.

Those of us who know our brokenness have only the hope shown in the 'dance of the disabled'.

Perhaps someday we will all share the hearts of these broken dancers and possess the feet of 'Mr. Bo Jangles'.


In the meantime my dance is more a stumbling shuffle between hope and despair.

4:14 PM

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