If it is broken, bless it

Jesus took the bread and he blessed it. He broke it and give it to his disciples.

Jesus took the fish and blessed it, he broke it and his disciples gave it to the multitudes.

Take. Bless. Break. Give. The last supper in the upper room, the feeding of the 5000. This is a common theme in the Christian faith. Take, bless, give all makes sense; however, it is when you consider “break” that questions arise. Why must something be broken?

But is it not in our brokenness that we are made whole and holy?

When I started this blog the name “Stained Glass Reflections” just came to me. I have learned to not ignore such inspirations and now I see why this name presented itself. Stained Glass Windows are made up of individual pieces of glass. Each piece is a fragment of the larger piece of which it was once part. It is now a broken piece of glass. It is in its brokenness that the small piece of glass can be united with other broken pieces of glass. It is the unity of all these broken pieces of glass from which emerge a Stained Glass Window. It is broken glass that creates the beauty of a stained glass window. It is in its brokenness that the glass is whole and holy.

As a summer intern in a CPE program this brokenness comes to me daily in the patients that I see. They come to the medical center because of vehicle accident, trauma, gun shot, heart attack, stroke and illness of all manners. And they come in a manner that is often broken and holy. As a chaplain I am to minister to the patient and their family. As a student I learn daily from the patients that I see. I often wonder who gains more in this relationship, the patient or the chaplain?

I think of the patient who I prayed with prior to surgery. This patient had multiple diagnosis any one of which would be overwhelming to must of us, certainly to me. Yet this patient was at peace with their life, with their death, with their Christ. I learned from their brokenness and pray to reach the level of peace that they have found.

I think of the patient who died too young after too long in the hospital. This patient told me how they had found Christ only days before our first meeting. I spoke often with the patient's parents. It was in the grief of their child's impending death that they invited me into their lives to baptize the patient. Surrounded by family the patient was baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Surrounded by family and the patient I was welcomed into their family just as the patient was formally welcomed into Christ's own family. The next day we all mourned the death of the patient, but we also celebrated knowing that the patient was with Christ.

So many of the patients I see talk of the strength they have because of their faith. Some ask me how those without faith manage being in the medical center, it is a question I can not answer. But I can see the differences.

Those who come to this medical center broken so often bless me with their gifts. It is in their brokenness that I am made holy.

It is in the brokenness of the glass that the window becomes beautiful and holy.

Take. Bless. Break. Give. It is in our brokenness that we can give to each other.

Shalom,