March 30/Good Friday
For all my foes I am an object of reproach, a laughingstock to my neighbors, and a dread to my friends; they who see me abroad flee from me.
I am forgotten like the unremembered dead; I am like a dish that is broken. ~ Ps 31.12-13
The other morning as I was unloading the dishwasher, a bowl slipped out of my hand, bounced on the floor, and broke cleanly in two. Without giving it a thought, I picked it up and tossed it into the trashcan. After all, a broken bowl is useless, isn’t it? How poignant, then, that the psalmist describes himself, at the nadir of his grief and isolation, as a ruined dish, whose existence has no purpose. Throughout our lives we will inevitably encounter “broken dish moments,” when we feel unimportant or expendable. Awash in a culture of winning as we are, most of us don’t inhabit such moments comfortably We may feel pressured to project an image of effortless success, whether as a uber-capable supermom, a confident professional, a student unruffled by the pressures of school, or some other iteration of human perfection. We don’t dare let on that we are overwhelmed or struggling, because we risk becoming, like the psalmist, a laughingstock to our neighbors and a dread to our friends. But those times of weakness and failure are precisely what allow us to make our deepest connection with God, and with other people. When we appear perfectly in control and put together all the time, the patina of perfection may discourage others from reaching out to us. God, of course, isn’t taken in by the glossy facade, but sees right through to the flaws within. If we let others see those flaws too, we may be amazed at the understanding and acceptance that become possible. There is a holiness and beauty to our brokenness, which is a shadow of the holiness, and the profound beauty, of Christ broken and suffering on the cross.
O perfect God, Give me the courage today to show imperfection to you and to others. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/033018.cfm
To hear “O Sacred Head Sore Wounded,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M4uUJibpvw
