sidewalk cracks

Today I am thinking about sidewalk cracks. If you live in a place where there are sidewalks you will walk across the cracks many times. And perhaps, once in awhile when you are not thinking about where you are going, or what he or she said, or how you wish things were different….you will notice that they are rarely empty. The cracks…the broken parts of the well-laid path are in fact opportune gardens in which wildflowers take root.

So too with the fractured places in our lives. This is what I have noticed again and again. When I am feeling broken in some way (emotionally or physically) a fertile space is opened and my creative seeds begin to embed themselves (These seeds are mysterious and sneaky…they tend to tend to themselves when I am busy not paying attention). Before I know it something wild and wonderful is blossoming from that place that had moments (days, weeks, years) prior seemed to be a terrible wound. Suddenly, I’m paying attention…not to the pain but to the surprising beauty that has emerged despite my desire to keep moving across the cracks toward the next destination/plan/dream…aka: avoidance tactic. The capacity to heal begins in the darkness...this seems so obvious when written, but not in the midst of fear that surrounds the “brokenness”. The human spirit, while rooted in the muck of misfortune is more likely to find its way toward the light of day than to remain alone in the depths of personal sorrow. That is the natural inclination of living things…to rise up…to find another way to flourish.

May the jagged spaces become gardens of blessing in your life this New Year.