There are some words in the English language that are used more often in slang. In the case of our word this week, cracked, informally, it might be used as expression of "crazy." Haven't you heard people say . . . she just cracked . . . she couldn't take it anymore? It might feel derogatory to use cracked in a description of a person.
Yet, recently I've been thinking about how beautiful cracked can be.
The dictionary offers us this definition of cracked: showing lines on the surface from having split without coming apart.
Because here's the thing, being a human being on planet earth is an experience of being cracked. We will loose what we think we can't loose. We will have taken from us what we don't want to give. We will all have lines on our faces and on our hands that tell the stories of what been spilt a part in our lives.
Yet, somehow through it all, you are still here.
Several years ago, I was talking with a friend who was going through a difficult time. She was struggling to “move on” from what everyone said she should have been over months before. A whole year passed. She kept showing up to do her own life to learn and grow bit by bit even as sad as she was. Then, one afternoon she told me: “I feel like my heart has been broken deeper than I’ve ever known, at a deep, deep level. But at the same time, I’ve felt more seen and loved by a few of you than I’ve ever imagined either.”
She went on: “So, I’m thinking that sometimes the only way that real love can deep down inside of us is for our heart to be cracked open."
And the more I thought about it, I knew my friend was so right! It is so easy when life get stuck in rough patches to focus solely on what is going wrong or what used to be.
But with time and patience, there is another way. And songwriter, Leonard Cohen lays it out for us.
“Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
Today I believe you can do this hard thing: allow the light to get into the places in your life you fear are most cracked.
I call this light God.
Because as we keep going, step by step, and keep ringing our bells, God surprises us! Shining beam by beam. Illuminating stride by stride. Radiating moment by moment. Peace comes.
This is what I most want for whatever is heavy on your heart this week. It's ok that you feel cracked. Honestly, we all do.
XO
Elizabeth
