by Rev. John Morehouse
In this time of political dystopia, economic chaos and a threatening war, I think of the spiritual power of brokenness. There seem to be holes everywhere. It is almost as if we have a cross between an elephant and a kangaroo running amok, a giant beast of misfortune, stomping big holes around the world.
What most amazes me is how courageously we are living our lives even as we stumble from one hole to the next. Last Sunday, someone left a large note on my desk, with this quote, often attributed to Rumi on it: “Don’t turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged places. That’s where the light enters you.”
In recent weeks, we have felt the bandaged places of our lives, not only the worry of our world but the new identities we seek to embrace through our faith as Unitarian Universalists. We yearn to be antiracist, transgender-welcoming, and empowering to girls and women in our community and beyond. We are called to these aspirations in spite of our worries, or, perhaps, because those worries are calling us to our even better selves.
The Buddha so long ago taught that our brokenness is our first reality. The many holes we are falling into and climbing out of are the very nature of life. And yet, we live our lives not in the holes but around them. The Buddha would agree. Reality is an illusion. What we suffer is only a momentary sensory hiccup in the true emptiness of the universe. If we see the holes we fall into as illusions, we are suddenly free from trying to get out. The holes will vanish in time. We will become what we dreamed we could be because there are holes everywhere, not in spite of them.
I am reminded again of the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich:
“And all shall be well and . . .
All manner of things shall be well.”
Falling gracefully, but in the falling we find new ground.
See you in church.