We Are Fragile, We Are Damaged, But We Are Strong.

We tend, often, to imagine ourselves as fragile.

As not much more than a bead of air, floating aimlessly, perhaps without purpose.

Submitting ourselves to whatever fresh current next sweeps us along.

Expecting, inevitably, that snag, that tear, that deluge, that pop.

Then, taking note of our damage, we shrink, we burrow, we hide, we surrender.

But what if our real strength – hidden, not absent – can be tapped and actually harnessed? What if we could cast our eyes upwards as we engage our hearts outward?

Perhaps, then, we’d come to appreciate the true nature of the power residing within, power that radiates downward, from above.

Perhaps, too, we could abandon any pretense that we have been forsaken; for clearly, we have not.

Thomas Merton understood, and questioned, and declared:

Perhaps I am stronger than I think.

Perhaps I am even afraid of my strength, and turn it against myself, thus making myself weak.

Making myself secure.

Making myself guilty.

Perhaps I am most afraid of the strength of God in me.

Perhaps I would rather be guilty and weak in myself,
than strong in Him whom I cannot understand.

We can know that true strength abounds, even when it’s hidden, even when we doubt its existence.

We need only, first, to cast out our mortal fears.

Peace

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