Looking for kind and gentle today. I met an interesting young man this week.  I felt so blessed to meet someone who is so courageous and never quits.  He is a kind gentle soul that has Cerebral Palsy.  It impacts his walking and makes him drag his foot.   Like many of us, he has gone through many life trials and tribulations, but he also has some major life accomplishments.  He rides his bike when he can. It would be easy to label him as broken based on his past life choices.  His life choices have not always been the best.  I also know someone else who was convicted of rape and spent 37 years in prison until DNA evidence freed him.  He went in at 22.  The way that his interaction with society has been impacted by that experience is profound, but people might also be tempted to call him broken.  In some ways, he was broken.  Broken is an interesting word.  It is used in the Bible over 100 times.  The first mention in the New Testament is in Matthew 14:20:  They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  Many of us recognize this as when the miracle of the fishes and loaves occurred.  Broken but part of a much greater whole.  We are always part of that greater whole. Another common occurrence is when the Bible talks about broken laws.  This occurs quite often.  The saddest is when they talk about breaking Jesus’ legs on the cross so he will die faster.  They didn’t because he had already passed. Broken has so many meanings and so also so many healings.

The breaking of legs was common to speed dying for those crucified.  This “broken” is from John 19:31-37 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. ³⁵ The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

To explain that, In  Num. 9:12; 12 They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover, they must follow all the regulations. This refers to Passover and not breaking bones so they did it before Passover started.

As an aside, Zechariah in 12:10 prophesized Mourning for the One They Pierced  10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

So what is the point?  What is broken?  Broken loaves of bread;  Broken Laws;  Broken Bones.  I say broken spirit.  I have seen some friends devastated by breakups and two years later getting married.  I have friends who were diagnosed with cancer – a few years later, God has sent the right doctor and they appear to be in total remission.  Failed out of school, lost their scholarship, had a stupid night and got pulled over.  Their spirit healed.  They moved on even when life had them on a rollercoaster.

Here is a thought:  The hardest battles can be won by holding on one more day.  I love this expression.  I used to say “When it sucks, go faster – so you can get through it”. This was usually in a pool and the coach yelling to keep going.  You ever swim 800 meters and then switch right into 15 minutes of treading water with no hands?  In reality, it was not fun, but that has a fixed finish line and in the big picture, so does life.  Today think about what loss, sickness, stress, injury, circumstance or whatever that life has thrown at you.  At the same time, I get to cite my all time favorite Bible verse here:  1 Corinthians 10:13 Good News Translation ¹³ Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.

You know we are all a little narcissistic.  If you think about it, there is something that you think that you are better at than most others.  Or narcistic about not being narcistic.  It could be your scores on candy crush or your ability to see farther than others or how exquisite your lasagna tastes – you get it – the list goes on.  So in contrast, I ask myself, am I broken?  Yes I have been.  Yes I will probably be again.  I think we all have been broken at some point.  Most of us – multiple times.  Plenty of us have spent time in the hospital.  That is an easy one to know when you were broken.  We have all lost someone or something precious to us (unless we are without feelings about others) and grown back from it.  Scars are there.  Most everyone has yearned over another girl or boy when we were younger whether it was two days younger or twenty years younger.   But what about how we healed from those events.  Did we put the pieces back together and make a greater whole?  Did we let the number of loaves be greater than the beginning?  Did our bones heal?  Literally and figuratively?  If you let in the fighting spirit of the Holy Spirit, does it let your fighting spirit keep on going?  Yes it does.  ALWAYS.  God will give you the strength to endure it.  That is how you get those amazing candy crush scores, make great lagana or achieve a kinder gentler spirit.

This the part where you ask about my friend with CP.  He gets it.  Surprised?  He is proud of his 10 year sober coin and he should be, but the greatest part is where I mentioned that he has a kind, gentle soul.  Have you ever shook someone’s hand and KNEW they were good people.   A kind gentle soul.  That is him.  In a world of get all you can get, that is a breath of fresh air.  Many of the best people that I have ever known were really really bad (insert the word broken here) people at one point in time, but it doesn’t matter.  They even heard that they were broken beyond redemption, but they kept holding on.  Remember: Jesus takes everyone.  NO ONE has ever fallen so far that that He won’t take you in.  You know sometimes, you can get kicked again; you can slip again and again and again.  IT DOESN’T MATTER.  The hardest battles can be won by holding on one more day.  It is not something that you have to do alone.  It is not something that you ever DO do alone.  Broken is just a word.  How you deal correctly with broken is living life as the Child of God that we should all seek.  …… Because we are all equal in God’s eyes so no one is more broken than someone else. Remember: He will give you the strength to endure it.  Our role in this is to strive to be that pure person and lift others up to be with us.  Not drag them up – lift them up. To share the spirit.

Oh – And the guy accused of rape and spent time in prison even though he was innocent: He wrote a book and lots and lots of people liked his kind, gentle story.

And Jesus – we all know – He rose up to be seated at the right hand after being broken.