“A holy lesson in some cardboard.”
That was the assessment of Erin Mullins who is not only kin but a kindred spirit.
The box labeled “fragile,” the one bearing precious gifts, the one that arrived on her porch just before Christmas was damaged.
There was a hole where there shouldn’t have been one.
It didn’t arrive as expected.
The ragged tear portended something broken inside.
Erin wrote that it reminded her “that some days we travel this journey with our wounds showing.
“My corrugated exterior isn’t enough to protect me from the projectiles of the world.”
So perceptive.
Your house, then your business, is destroyed by fire.
Your little granddaughter dies.
Your wife of a half-century of marriage succumbs to cancer.
Huge holes are opened to your heart from which tears pour unabated.
We don’t arrive as expected.
Life opens ragged tears in our exterior.
Something is broken inside.
And through those holes, light, and love shines.
Just yesterday a book recommended by a dear friend arrived on my front porch. The package was not torn but the message of the book is for the torn.
On the very first page was this:
“When your heart is broken, this is where the light will get in, where love will get in.”
Blessed are those who weep with those who weep.
You, fellow weepers, are the light, and the love, the broken so desperately need.
And if you are the broken – or better yet since it’s not a matter of if but when – when you are broken, share your story.
There are others, many, many, many others, with huge gaping holes leading to their heart from which even your feeble light and love can be such a blessing.
Notice.
Be their gift.
The song written and sung by leonard Cohen makes the same observation. In the song he makes the observation -“There is a crack in everything. That is how the light gets in.” Such a great idea, That we must bear the suffering to truly understand the beauty.of all we experience.