Brokenness

Unless we can find a meaning for human suffering, that God is somehow in it and can also use it for good, humanity is in major trouble. Because we will suffer. Even the Buddha said that suffering is part of the deal! When we can hold our pain consciously and trustfully, we find ourselves in a very special liminal space. Here we are open to learning and breaking through to a much deeper level of faith and consciousness. Please trust me on this. We must all carry the cross of our own reality until God transforms us through it. Richard Rohr Daily Meditations 10/17/18

Join me this Thursday for a yoga practice of compassionately holding ourselves in gentle yoga stretches. We will explore working with ourselves with patience and kindness, cultivating the self-compassion that invites us to a very special liminal space where we might hear the still, soft voice of the Beloved, whisper “I have called you by name and you are mine.”

The moment has come to talk about brokenness. I am broken, you are broken and all the people we know or know about are broken. Our brokenness is so visible and tangible, so concrete and specific, that it is often difficult to believe that there is much to think, speak or write about other than our brokenness. Our brokenness is always lived and experienced as highly personal, intimate and unique. Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved

Owning our own story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. When we deny our stories, they define us. When we run from struggle we are never free. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy – the experiences that make us most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light. Brené Brown

I guess I’d always known but never fully considered that being broken is what makes us human. We all have our reasons. Sometimes we’re fractured by the choices we make; sometimes we’re shattered by things we would never have chosen. But our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing. Our shared vulnerability and imperfection nurtures and sustains our capacity for compassion. Bryan Stevenson

The leaders and prophets of Israel, who were clearly chosen and blessed, all lived very broken lives. And we, the Beloved daughters and sons of God, cannot escape our brokenness either. The first response to brokenness is to face it squarely and befriend it. Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved

When we can trust the transformative pattern, and that God is in the suffering, our wounds become sacred wounds. The actual and ordinary life journey becomes itself the godly journey. We trust God to be in all things, even in sin and suffering. We must trust the pain and not get rid of it until we have learned its lessons. The suffering can be seen as a part of the great pattern of how God is transforming all things. Richard Rohr

Loving ourselves through the process of owning our own story is the bravest thing we’ll ever do. Brené Brown

32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31NIV