We live in a world where we seem to be encouraged to aim for perfection. The advertisements tell us that we can have the best, that we can do the best, that we can be the best. They provide us with perfect people as our models. It all looks wonderful.
The trouble is that we all know that not to be how, for the most part, things are. We live rather in a messy world. We face struggles. The Christian message is not that everything can be made perfect, but that God is with us in the mess.
I have been dipping back into Henri Nouwen's Latin American Journal, 'Gracias'. He says this: "Ministry is entering with our human brokenness into communion with others and speaking a word of hope." He continues: "This is a hard vocation. It goes against the grain of our need for self-affirmation, self-fulfilment, and self-realization. It is a call to true humility."
Like the next person, I might prefer an easy life - and sometimes that is how things go. But I am so glad that God is with me in all those messes I keep stumbling over - and when, like Humpty Dumpty, I get broken so thankful that God is there to put me together again.
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