Brokenness (01/06/2025)

My daughter makes unique journals from discarded books and paper scraps. She calls them junk journal. She gave me one to use as my journal for this year. I am slowly adapting to its spaces and to the impact of images and words already on the page to what I will eventually write. This morning, the words were the heading of a chapter in the book she’d used: “Your Brokenness is Welcome Here.” The words induced a long time of silent reflection.

I get “brokenness.” I sat for the longest time and so many times and images darted about in my head. I thought of the brokenness I felt in never belonging because of the frequency of moves in my lifetime. I felt the scars of my multiple battles with cancer and the absence of confidence in my appearance. I felt the brokenness of grief from the loss of beloved family members. And then my mind took a strange turn, to a pair of figurines on my office shelf.

The sudden turn surprised me. True, they fit the theme of “brokenness.” They are very special to me. My three children gave them to me on Mother’s Day in 1979. My children were 6, 7, and 8. They’d pooled their money and found them at the dime store downtown. They were so proud of them. They looked like Lladro figurines. I went to the shelf and picked them up and smiled. I remember the day of play when one got broken. The children were alarmed when the figure fell and broke. I assured them that it would be all right. I remember lovingly gluing the pieces back together and refusing to throw them away.

Who of us has come to this day unscathed? Who of us hasn’t had moments, days, periods of brokenness? What we need isn’t judgment but rather love. We need to remember the love behind the gifts. When we look at ourselves, in our brokenness, we need to be able to recall the love behind the gift of our lives, the love of the LORD added to by the love of others. And we need to be open to mending through that love. We will have scars. It will be apparent to many that we’re not like we were, but hopefully, others will find room in their lives and hearts for us, broken as we are.

The LORD doesn't throw us away in our brokenness; the LORD rescues us, saves us, and still loves us. Our Almighty Father sent His only-begotten Son to dwell among us and to save us in our brokenness when we couldn't save ourselves, to heal our brokenness, to give us life by sacrificing his own.

As we go forward in faith, buoyed by hope in our loving and present LORD, and fueled by love, let us recognize our need for the LORD and the LORD’s love in our brokenness. Let us open our minds and hearts to others we encounter along the way who are also dealing with their own brokenness in the moment, offering loving kindness rather than judgment.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.