The Sunday Sermonette – The Beauty of Brokenness.
In the apocalyptic days that followed Hurricane Camille in 1969, I was thankful for many things. Thankfully, our little house in the College Park Subdivision was not damaged, although we had many downed trees. Most Coastal residents couldn’t say the same, though. Due to Camille’s tornadic winds, her tsunami-like waves of water—or combinations of both—many people came home to houses filled with the smell of mold, and the sludge of muddy muck and mire. Some returned to find only piles of bricks and lumber, or perhaps a blank slab of concrete, which was all that remained of their homes and their memories. Mrs. Jackie Hines was one of those people.
She was the gymnastics teacher at the Gulfport Recreation Center in the 1960s, when I took tumbling and art lessons there. She was not just a teacher, though, but a mentor and a friend. She was spry, well-loved, and very knowledgeable concerning antiques and architecture. Speaking of architecture, her home on Gulfport’s Beach Boulevard, near the present-day Salute Restaurant, was designed by world-famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was a significant architectural loss to the Mississippi Gulf Coast when it was destroyed.
“Miss Jackie” often regaled me with tales of her European travels in the 1930s. Once, while in Paris, she purchased an antique plate, paying around 800 francs for it, which was about $40.00 in 1939. That would be about $930.00 today! The reason the plate was so pricy was that it was Old Paris Porcelain. That kind of porcelain was first made in France during the reign of Louis XV and is known for its meticulous hand-painted decorations, sporting rich colors and gilded accents.
In the steamy-hot days following Camille’s Coastal departure, I helped many families clean their homes of the debris that she had left behind. While helping Miss Jackie, I found the plate she’d purchased all those years before, under a sandy pile of red bricks. It was broken, and I was amazed that all the pieces were together. I asked her if she wanted it, and she said no. “Take it. It will just get thrown in the trash like so many other memories.”
That was fifty-six years ago. Her memory of that old plate is one of my favorite memories from those days. While drinking my morning coffee, I often look at the broken plate sitting on a kitchen shelf with other broken memories, compliments of Miss Jackie. I reglued all those years ago, and it seems somewhat whole, but it will bear its scars forever. It’s broken and will never be whole again.
That old plate is a metaphor for life, if you think about it. We, too, experience gut-wrenching storms—the death of loved ones, the demons of depression, bad health, and addictions, divorce, job losses, and fears for the future. We get broken, too, and our pieces can get lost under a sandy pile of life’s red bricks. However, our pieces can be reglued, placed back on life’s kitchen shelf, and admired. But in reality, we’ll never be whole again. Always broken. Always pieces of what we once were. Or maybe…
We all feel broken at times. Our emotions shattered. Our spirituality in pieces. And our physical well-being crushed. But recognizing our brokenness is the first step towards restoration. The Good Book tells us that it is okay to admit we’re broken. Always remember: Father God is not looking for our unbroken perfection but rather our broken honesty. Our broken pieces are not a sign of defeat or failure but a picture of God’s ability to take the pieces and make them whole again. Every mended, jagged piece tells the story of God’s grace and mercy.
God uses our broken pieces as opportunities for growth. Embracing our broken pieces allows us to witness the beauty that arises from them. Every shattered piece creates the possibility of creating something completely new, completely unbroken—a testimony to God’s restorative power in our lives.
By accepting this, dear ones, we open the door for God to work in our lives. Our acceptance teaches us to rely on His strength, rather than our own. Only then can we understand the beauty of brokenness and begin to receive the restorative healing that Father God so passionately desires for us. Miss Jackie’s plate will forever remain broken. But not so those who call on Father God and Jesus Christ to make them whole again. How broken are you?
Ponder this and go forth.