“I wish I hadn’t broken it.”

My son’s small voice was heavy with grief last night as he looked upon the shattered pieces of a Lego set he’d been constructing for several weeks. Earlier in the day, in a fit of anger, he’d thrown it to the ground, breaking it and scattering the formerly interlocking pieces everywhere. It had taken us quite a while to gather up the pieces and even now I need to walk with care so as not to step on a Lego landmine.

“I know, son. You worked so hard on it. But I can help you put it back together if you let me.”

After I tucked him in, I couldn’t help but liken the grief my boy felt over his Lego set to the sorrow many of us feel about the state of our nation. It, too, took a beating yesterday, fueled by anger and unmet expectations. While the details are still fuzzy and I will refrain from casting blame, yesterday’s events further exposed the deep rifts of animosity and mistrust that have formed in our society. We call ourselves the United States, but I can’t think of a time in my life when we’ve been more fractured. We all want America to prosper, but our disagreements about how to do that have fueled a pursuit of power at all costs. Add to that our unwillingness to listen to people who disagree with us, and our knee-jerk tendency to blame others rather than taking a good hard look in the mirror, and it’s no wonder why we are experiencing such deep division. It’s messy and painful and at times it seems hopeless.

But we have one thing going for us.
We don’t have to put the pieces back together by ourselves.

Like my son, we have a Father who is willing to enter into the messiness of our reality, a messiness that we had a part in creating, and He will help us heal our broken society. Now, I’m not naïve enough to believe that everyone in our country will all of a sudden yearn for Jesus to take the wheel. But for those of us who call Him Lord, if we will keep our eyes fixed on him and allow his values to shape our values, then we can begin piecing our fractured society back together again starting with our own little spheres of influence. If we, who call Jesus our Lord, will stop pointing the fingers at others and start asking ourselves, “how would Jesus have me respond?” then we can break the cycles that breed division and dysfunction in our society. Let the healing start with us.  

So let me be the first to say it: “God, we’ve made a mess and we need your help.”

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14   

On a Wing and a Prayer

This morning, I went for a run in the Back Bay. I figured it's time to start working off the extra 20 I picked up in 2020. Along my route, I noticed some hawks floating on the breeze. Grateful for the excuse to catch my breath, I stopped and watched them for a few minutes.

I was struck by how effortlessly they glided, often going minutes without flapping their wings. Although they couldn’t see the breeze, they harnessed its power rather than expending their own. They didn’t even need to labor when they were flying into the wind. Instead, they used the headwind to rise up. 

As I watch them, I considered the headwinds that we all endured in 2020. I can't speak for you, but when the winds buffeted me, I tended to strain hard to overcome them, often leaving myself exhausted because of my efforts. If there is a lesson we can learn from the birds, it’s that the trials of life are not necessarily a curse. In fact, they can be the very things that help us rise higher and higher, if we will just rely upon the power of the one who raises us up, rather than upon our own strength. Perhaps that's what it means to live on a wing and a prayer.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:28-31‬