Broken Vessels

Death, or the threat thereof, has a tendency of bringing up memories and coloring the wherefore and how comes in a different light. Most of you have been to funerals where the picture painted is not the one that you think best suited the person. If only we could paint with that brush during life. Some do, but most don’t. ****************************************** I have seen beneath the brokenness of so many others, not to mention myself. I can look at generations and understand how the sins/damage of the father, so to speak, carry on into the generations and lives and relationships and the stories of everyone who comes after. I have heard some of their stories, and I know my own, as does God. There is ALWAYS something that leads to brokenness, even if we never know the truth that lies behind someone else’s pain. We all have a story and sometimes, in the telling of it, we paint over it too, so that others won’t know our shame and pain. That is the bottom line, isn’t it? We can’t handle the rejection and we can’t afford to trust others with our real stories. We have been betrayed by the least likely in our lives. ***************************************** Psalm 31:12: “I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.” ********************************* Some people build up the pain into a prickly anger that boils over at anyone near them. Sometimes they tell stories to paint a far better picture. Some wallow in the brokenness and seem to enjoy the attention; starved for it. Some manipulate and lie because they don’t trust that people will accept them for who they really are or were. Sometimes they bury themselves in substance abuse to drown out the pain. Sometimes they turn to other bad choices out of deep seated needs never fulfilled. Sometimes they hide and become a shy introvert with no close relationships or trust. Sometimes, actually many times, they mold their lives into a combination of coping mechanisms like these and, sadly, the possibilities are endless. **************************************** Because there are more of us (broken vessels) in the world, most times broken vessels tend to gravitate to other broken vessels. When one lashes out in a storm of insecurity and rage, the other perpetuates the situation out of ignorance and brokenness too. Neither understanding how to defuse it; how to communicate pain and fear. It is a natural progression into dysfunction, to be sure. So naturally children and others who live in the environment can be damaged from the fall out of such storms. Thus, we have the world we live in and the product of this chaotic, violent age.*************************************** Like my favorite saying goes: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” ******************************** It is so very true. The secrets of our lives can be damaging, not just to us, but to everyone in our lives, especially our family, our children. If we could reveal the brokenness without fear of rejection and judgment, bringing the truth to light, we could heal and change and others can understand and be a part of the process. ********************************** 2 Cor 12:9-10: “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” ******************************** I see what people COULD be or could have been if only…. Fill in the blank. Perhaps in my old age it is easier to feel more sympathy, to paint with the possibilities instead of the dark hues of judgment. Perhaps you too can benefit from this option. ****************************** James 5:16: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” **************************************** We must arm ourselves with the love of God, the lessons in the bible, the promises of God, to learn and understand our purpose here despite the obstacles and damage. We must find and be a part of a good Christian community that supports us and does as good Christians should do. We can do it with God, but not alone. It is the people in our lives that choose the light over darkness that can draw us out and guide us to a better place. Ideally, not in death; ideally at a time in our lives when we haven’t been hardened by life choices and damage and deteriorated by brokenness and pain.