We All Have Cracks (This Isn't Dirty, I Promise)
One of my very favorite books is Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Go ahead and laugh, but it is a great book. I even named my kitten Siddalee! There are soo many great lines in the book. Some make me laugh, some make me sad, and some make me ponder my soul. I just read the book for the second time. There were two quotes that really stuck out this time around. The first was "old cheerleaders don't die, they just dye their hair." I was not a cheerleader. I am not making fun of cheerleaders. I just thought this was really funny!
The other great quote really has made me think this past week. Wells writes, "I try to believe that God doesn't give you more than one little piece of the story at once. You know, the story of your life. Otherwise your heart would crack wider than you could handle. He only cracks it enough so you can still walk, like someone wearing a cast. But you've still got a crack running up your side, big enough for a sapling to grow out of. Only no one sees it. Nobody sees it. Everybody thinks you're one whole piece, and so they treat you maybe not so gentle as they would if they could see that crack."
I have re-read that quote so many times over the last week. I wish I had written that. I have had this particular thought in my head for several months now, but I just didn't know how to articulate it. We have no idea what, the people we work with, go to school with, are friends with, go to church with, are in our book club, PTO groups, and just about anything we do, have been through. Most of us are so consumed with our own cracked hearts that we don't take the time to consider others. Me included.
We all have cracks in our hearts and souls. Some people choose never to reveal it, nor that sapling growing out of it, to anyone. Others choose to document every detail about their problems to everyone. Meanwhile some are lucky enough to be given special people to trust that allow us to show our cracked hearts in safe places. Don't get me wrong, I realize some of these cracks in our hearts are deeper than others. But I also believe that some people have cracked hearts so deep, we will never truly know. I know people that are happy go lucky, funny, funny people with cracked hearts that you would never believe.
The thing I take from this quote is that we should be aware of the strangers we meet. We should be aware of the people we think we know so well. What should we be aware of? We should be aware that they have problems that we can't see. You never know what has happened to them in their lives. Now, I am not advocating picking up every hitch hiker you meet or anything like that. But maybe you should offer prayer for those people that you think you know, or that stranger that you meet.
I think just an awareness that other people have cracked hearts, can only help us heal in our own lives. I hope that this awareness will help us to treat others with a new found respect, and a new found gentleness. Think about that days that you need someone to put their hand over your heart and say, "I know".
The other great quote really has made me think this past week. Wells writes, "I try to believe that God doesn't give you more than one little piece of the story at once. You know, the story of your life. Otherwise your heart would crack wider than you could handle. He only cracks it enough so you can still walk, like someone wearing a cast. But you've still got a crack running up your side, big enough for a sapling to grow out of. Only no one sees it. Nobody sees it. Everybody thinks you're one whole piece, and so they treat you maybe not so gentle as they would if they could see that crack."
I have re-read that quote so many times over the last week. I wish I had written that. I have had this particular thought in my head for several months now, but I just didn't know how to articulate it. We have no idea what, the people we work with, go to school with, are friends with, go to church with, are in our book club, PTO groups, and just about anything we do, have been through. Most of us are so consumed with our own cracked hearts that we don't take the time to consider others. Me included.
We all have cracks in our hearts and souls. Some people choose never to reveal it, nor that sapling growing out of it, to anyone. Others choose to document every detail about their problems to everyone. Meanwhile some are lucky enough to be given special people to trust that allow us to show our cracked hearts in safe places. Don't get me wrong, I realize some of these cracks in our hearts are deeper than others. But I also believe that some people have cracked hearts so deep, we will never truly know. I know people that are happy go lucky, funny, funny people with cracked hearts that you would never believe.
The thing I take from this quote is that we should be aware of the strangers we meet. We should be aware of the people we think we know so well. What should we be aware of? We should be aware that they have problems that we can't see. You never know what has happened to them in their lives. Now, I am not advocating picking up every hitch hiker you meet or anything like that. But maybe you should offer prayer for those people that you think you know, or that stranger that you meet.
I think just an awareness that other people have cracked hearts, can only help us heal in our own lives. I hope that this awareness will help us to treat others with a new found respect, and a new found gentleness. Think about that days that you need someone to put their hand over your heart and say, "I know".
Comments
That I know of, you don't know me. Like you, I grew up in Dothan, and we know some of the same people (Emily Chappell is one of them), so I've heard your name before.
Anyway, my name is Stacy, and I recognized your name on Emily's blog page and decided to check out your page.
So, I wanted to let you know that I was really touched by your post about the "cracks" that we all have. I am guilty of getting consumed with myself and my "cracks," and I seldom stop to consider the struggles that my neighbor might be facing. Your post today reminded me that it's not always about me.
Have a blessed day!
~Stacy Holmes