1/25/16
Recently, my husband, Jeff, and I had a discussion. I felt
that the thoughts shared were worth writing down for others to read.
~~~~~~~~~~
Feeling almost a sense of grief, I stared down at my
favorite eyeglasses with their cracked frames resting in my palm. Directing my
words across the breakfast table to my husband, I said, “These glasses won’t
ever be quite the same again, no matter how carefully we glue them.”
“You’re right,” he answered. Shaking his head and taking
them from me to inspect, Jeff added, “Stress has already done its work. The gap
has widened. It won’t take much to sever the band of remaining adhesive.
“You know, I think we – people – are like these spectacles,”
I commented, taking a sip from my now cooled cup of tea. When he looked up, I
tried to explain. “Each of us has been fractured by life’s tragedies and
disappointments, broken like shattered teacups again and again.” I paused to
gather my thoughts and put them into words. “I think that we as women are aware
of those cracks deep down. We hold at bay those things that might open up the
old wounds.”
Jeff stopped fiddling with the eyeglasses and laid them down
on the table. “Men do the same. Those of us who are in touch with our feelings,
that is.”
“Okay, thanks,” I acknowledged his concession with a smile,
and then suggested. “Let’s take that statement up a notch. I wonder. When it is
God who heals those deep inner wounds, the damage disappears, almost as if it
never existed. In comparison, we also fight to keep those wounds from resurfacing,
as if they’re something to be ashamed of. ”
“I can picture that,” said my husband, taking a sip of his
also now cooled cup of coffee as his brown eyes widened with understanding. “I
can see that cup whole and complete.”
“Let’s develop this a bit more before we go onto something
else, okay?” At his nod, I said, “God is self-sufficient, right?” He smiled,
waiting. “He calls himself the “I am” -
“I am – Healer,” “I am – Provider,” “I am – your Refuge,” “I am – a very
present help in time of need.” These are all examples; his names define both
who he is and how he relates to us. But,” I groped for words, “what if I took
the same viewpoint in reverse? “I am ____ in him,” or “I have ____ in him. Like
two pieces of a puzzle,” I said and, feeling the strength of the illustration,
interlocked the fingers of both my hands together, “I am complete in him. I
don’t have to go to other things or people to complete me, or to be safe!"
"I think you have to be careful how you phrase
that," Jeff responded. The words "I am ____" denote pride in
self, but if your intent is that the emphasis is on God – not self – and that
he is the source of everything, then that's a good thing."
"Yes, of course. That's what I mean." After a
brief pause, I added, "Conversely, not only is embracing God's sufficiency
a cure, it is also a preventative." Desiring to end our discussion and
move on into the day, I said, "As I grow in my relationship with God and
learn how to trust him in the circumstances of my life, I reach out to things
and people that will fail me less and less. As a result, the likelihood of my
being shattered by life’s let-down’s at all is diminished.”
"I agree," he affirmed. "That makes sense.
You know what?”
“What?” I asked and grinned back.
“That might justify our searching for that PDF buried in the
computer. Remember?” he asked. “It explains God's Names and from where they
originated in the Bible. But first, before anything," he added with a
smile, "I'm up for a fresh pot of coffee. You game for some tea?"
"You bet!" I answered, gently placed the injured
eyeglasses in their solid case, and then snapped the lid shut.
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