Embracing Brokenness (Trinitarian Rector's Letter--May 2014)

Fr. Tony’s Letter to the Trinitarians   --  May 2014

Embracing Brokenness

Throughout the month of May, we will be celebrating the “Great 50 Days” of Easter, commemorating the 40 day ministry of the risen Lord (Acts 1:3) and the following ten days leading to the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1).  

When I was a little boy and heard the story of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, I was very unhappy that Jesus’ disciples recognize him by noting the “prints of the nails” in his hands and feet and the still-gaping wound left in his side by the spear.  “If God could raise Jesus from the dead, couldn’t he have also fixed those wounds?”   My mother, always astute to the logic of this kind of story, patiently replied, “How could they have known it was Jesus come back from the dead if there weren’t marks from the Cross?”  It was only much later that I learned of the great theological reflection that had been focused on this narrative detail, summarized in Charles Wesley’s words, “Those dear tokens of his passion, still his dazzling body bears, … With what rapture we gaze on those glorious scars!” 

The scars on Jesus’ gloriously raised body have a certain Zen character.  No piece of brushwork or pottery must be completely perfect; the artist must leave a flaw.  Like the “Zen circle” where the calligraphic brush leaves a gap reminding all that there is no real perfection, the scars of the cross remind me that to be human is to be imperfect.   The mystery of the cross is part of the mystery of incarnation.  Jesus was God made fully human, and to be human means to be scarred.  The marks of hurt left on the person of God in glory are an essential part of the mystery. 

The Japanese have a technique of repairing fine art pottery when it is broken.  In kintsukuroi or kintsugi, the artist fills in the cracks or gaps with a lacquer resin mixed with gold.  Instead of hiding the crack and pretending the pottery never broke, this very visible repair celebrates the fact that the pot was once broken.  The repair is seen as part of the history of the object, lending it interest and enhancing its beauty and value. 

Any healthy spirituality must be rooted in an honest acceptance of our humanity and limitations.  A spirituality of imperfection celebrates who we really are, and how God can make us the more beautiful through our flaws.  By embracing our brokenness, we can embrace beauty. 

Grace and Peace,

Fr. Tony+