God uses broken things.

       It takes broken soil to produce a crop,            

            Broken clouds to give rain,                        

                      Broken grains to give bread.                                    

                              Broken bread to give strength.                                                            

                                                          Vance Havner  

Dear Friends in Christ,            

Broken and given for you.            

Jesus’ ministry, so many years ago in Palestine, was filled with compassion for broken people.  He lived in a world of brokenness.  The dreams of his tribe were broken by empire upon empire who conquered and oppressed.  Sickness, poverty and alienation were all around.  His body was broken and yet amazingly, through resurrection, the broken gave birth to something new.            

Never the less, the concept of brokenness is not positive.  Broken ankle, broken arm.  Broken camera, broken dishes.  When things are broken, in our day we have a tendency to throw them out.  They are replaced with something completely new. They are forgotten.             

Jesus never forgot the broken, the broken-hearted. A good friend reminded us that in these days we need to do self-care but also self-compassion concerning the cracks and brokenness we feel.  God is able to make newness, wisdom, and kindness from our brokenness.  Our care and compassion to each other is also rooted in God’s ability to bring life out of brokenness.             

This summer, we as the people of God, have many opportunities to use our brokenness to give birth to joy and delight.  Just as Jesus was broken and given for us, we too, may break ourselves open for one another and for the world.