March 3, 2009

Took, Blessed, Broke, and Gave

As we enter the Lenten season, I have been reflecting on what it means to be both broken and blessed. Like the bread of Eucharist, Jesus takes our lives, blesses and breaks us, and gives us to the world as his own presence. In a recent retreat at my church, Prairie Baptist Church, I shared the following:

 

 

I.                     Broken people are vulnerable

 

·         We understand both blessing and our brokenness

·         We learn to “rest in our need”; to be able to receive is a gift

·         We do not dismiss the exigencies of human life

·         We follow after the Christ who knows our suffering

 

II.                   Suffering can be lessened by companionship

 

·         Others can “hear us into speech” as we reveal the truth of our lives

·         We were made for wholeness through relationship

·         Pain that is shared is diminished

·         We offer the ministry of presence

 

III.                  We understand the broken-hearted through being “stewards of our wounds”

 

·         Our wounds make us more accessible

·         Scar tissue is sturdier than unbroken skin

·         Our healing testifies to possibility of new beginnings

 

IV.                We can be a sacrament of grace

 

·         We are bread for the world…in mercy broken

·         We are the presence of Christ, his very hands and feet

·         We have great power to bless

 

Molly T. Marshall

 

 

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