“The
sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken
and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
~Psalm 51:17 (NRSV)
“There is
a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.”
~Leonard Cohen, Anthem
Blissful humanity!
We are known as much for our
fallibility as we are for the greatest of human achievements—no matter how
proficient we ever get at living life, we’ll always be subject to God regarding
the circumstances of life and how they play out. Proverbs
16 has much to say about that!
One thing we have little control
over is the way we are built and the way life is designed.
The issue of conditionality
regarding life is as much about biology as it is about circumstances; we may be
one lump or one headache away from the worst news imaginable. And that’s only
what could happen to us; we are possibly more hurt through what happens to us when other
people we love suffer—as is the case with parents and grandparents who endure
much additional indirect hardship.
The longer we live the more we
realise how cracked life is.
Yet, if there were no
imperfections there would be no striving for God; if there was no darkness
there would be no need for the light; if there were no hopelessness, there
would be little need for hope.
A Theology of Cracks
God avails to those least perfect
of us the warm oil of power to transcend our vulnerability by simple acknowledgement:
we are not there yet! The truth prevails upon us this awkwardly inconceivable
power—in weakness there is inimitable strength.
This Lord of turning things upside
down is doing so by favouring the humble and contrite. There is no need of
perfection in an imperfect world. The humble will be exalted, but those who insist
on exalting themselves will be humbled against their will (Matthew 23:12; Luke
14:11; Luke 18:14).
Yes, God wants cracks.
The living God wants us dependent
to the point of obedience—for our very own good; not to break us, but to infirm
us enough that we may follow the right way. Disobedience and unfaithfulness
make no sense in a life implicit of love. Still, there is room for wayward
imperfection. Praise God for such grace!
***
There is little point in
pretending we have it all together, but there is no excuse in settling for less
than our best. We may be wonderfully and fearfully made; we are just as much
delightfully cracked and wonderfully broken. Only when we celebrate this fact
are we ready for communion with God.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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