Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Quote of the Day 12/18/13
"And then I will look a little more carefully with a little more love at my surroundings, to listen to what can be heard in the depths of the wreckage. The footsteps of friends on the deck. The calls on my phone from family. The texts of kindness. The emails of opportunity. The likes and the comments and the hearts and the replies from every other broken heart. When the army doesn’t come for you, when no one chooses to fight for you, when no one dives in after you with fairy tales and promises, you write a different story. You write a tale of adventure and chaos, of survival and fortitude, and instead of wishing to be saved, you save yourself. " [Kelton Wright]
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There is a term that is precious to me. It is, "the holy ground of the broken heart". It is an understanding that came to be precious to me and was not always so. At one point I resisted it entirely because I feared its implication. How could one embrace the idea of a broken heart as having anything good? Why would anyone ever consider this place holy when it is so often cluttered with all that brokenness implies?
ReplyDeleteAfter many years, I began to understand the richness and comfort of those few words. This ground is holy because it is where Christ meets us. It is holy because in this place our prayers are honest, and we realize that trying to save ourselves has consequences we didn't intend, which often leave us more broken.
I have not known anyone who is free from brokenness, of one type or another, myself included. It is natural to avoid brokenness because we all hunger for wholeness, and certainly we should not seek out brokenness; life will take care of that. But it seems to me that if we run from this holy ground, especially to save ourselves, we risk distancing ourselves from Christ, the one who desires our wholeness most of all. He, knowing what it is like, meets us there, in our brokenness. It is there that we can come to know his sufficiency and understand the limitations of saving ourselves. Psalm 34:2,18 - The Lord is close to the broken hearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit.
From my heart and in my prayers.
I am not sure of the author's original intentions in saying that you can save yourself, but as for me, I think the way to interpret it would be that you have to make a conscience decision to admit your brokenness and to choose to be healed. For it is when we admit we are failing and falling and call out to God, we are choosing to save ourselves.
DeleteSome people may go out and take on the mindset that they are their own savior and through sheer will and mindset and optimism, eventually everything will heal and fade out. This may work temporarily but only God can bring the ultimate healing. Positive thinking, life's distractions and so forth only work for so long. In past experiences, I have truly seen the healing and growth that comes from pain. It is when God is closet and nearest. When God is all you have left, you see that God is all you need.
I love that verse that you mentioned. God is truly close to the broken hearted, and He also works for the God to those who love him.
On a human level, you just want to heal overnight. All we want is a chance to explain, a chance to clear confusion, a chance to propose a solution and a chance to start over. Especially as women, we naturally want to fix things, make it all okay. It’s the best and worst part of being a woman. Your heart breaks for not just yourself, but for all.
Ultimately, God is the only one who can make sense of confusion and hurt. No matter how hard we try to understand, only God knows the truth of it all. I think that we should take the quote as a call to admit that you do have the opportunity to save yourself… by calling out to God. He holds the master plan and knows the purpose of every experience, every heartache, every misunderstanding and every memory. He uses it to mold us, to shape us and to work for our good, even when we don’t understand.
PS – prayers and kind words, they for me, have become some of life’s most meaningful experiences. I always love to hear your input and discussion. Discussion leads to growth and growth is always welcomed ☺
Beautiful clarification. I wish the author of your quote could read it. Also, God uses special people in our lives to set an example of his kind of love. Here is another quote for you, which I may have already shared with you, by Washington Irving:
ReplyDelete"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us, when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts."