We Aren’t Broken, We’re Simply Unfinished

We made it! We moved all of our things and ourselves to Nashville, Tennessee this week.

Admittedly, my life has been a bit of a mess - which hasn’t left a lot of space for dealing with things outside of me … things I have no control over. I didn’t have the mental or emotional capacity to process the attack on the Capital or other events leading up to the inauguration of a new president.

Every time something big happened, I put a pin in it. It felt like my computer prompting me to "update & restart” … and I just kept hitting “remind me tomorrow.”

Well, it’s "tomorrow."

I’m finally sitting down to catch up and think about all that’s happened this month.

I could share how upset I am about the attack on the Capital. I could share about how sick it makes me to see “Jesus Saves” posters in the crowd, and watch videos of violent rioters saying prayers to God “in the name of Jesus.” I could write an entire newsletter about this, but I won’t.

All I can say is … if you witnessed those things and said:

“This is why I don’t believe in God." ... or ... “This is why I walked away from faith; these people are hypocrites."

I get it.

All I can say is the God I know is about love and restoration, not about hate and destruction.

If you watched the inauguration ceremony, you probably saw a 22-year old poet named Amanda Gorman steal the whole show. The words of her poem titled “The Hill We Climb” brought tears to my eyes. While the audio/video is excellent, I encourage you to take 5 minutes and read the poem here.

Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn't broken
but simply unfinished

These words remind me of scripture, where God is described as a potter, and we are the clay.
 

“Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker,
those who are nothing but potsherds
among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
‘What are you making?'
Does your work say,
‘The potter has no hands’?
Isaiah 45:9

I once read how “potsherds” are broken pieces of pottery, and how experienced potters add dust from the potsherds to make new clay. The dust from broken pieces makes the new clay stronger, and helps the clay handle more heat in the fire.

Like Ms. Gorman says: We aren’t broken, we’re simply unfinished.

I believe we have a choice, both as individuals and as a country, to allow the dust from our broken parts to be used in building something stronger, something more beautiful. We can either remain broken … or allow our Maker to mold us into something better.

This is what a restorative God does, and it's our responsibility to play a role in the restorative process … not add more broken pieces to the pile. If you’re curious what this might look like, I encourage you to read (or re-read) this blog post here titled, “A False Lion King Philosophy”.