Being Broken on Purpose

“God breaks the heart again and again and again until it stays open.” ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

When a tragedy strikes, our hearts are broken open, allowing us to be absolutely present to and for another person. We put our own needs and agendas aside, placing ourselves in the shoes of the one who is suffering and in pain. We stand with them, sit with them and hold their hand as they grieve.

Then, all is well and our hearts close again. Not that they become hardened, but they just close. A closed heart is a complacent heart, an apathetic heart, a heart that merely goes about the day to day without thought to anyone else’s day to day. Yes, there are extremely humanitarian people who care deeply about the injustices of society; this is not what I am speaking of. I am speaking of the ordinary; just ordinary people in ordinary situations doing ordinary things.

Then another tragedy strikes, be it a personal tragedy like a loved one dying from cancer; or a public tragedy, like terrorism. Our hearts open again, as we go about doing for the common and greater good. Yet one day, our hearts will break to the point when they can no longer close, but remain open. We no longer become indifferent to what is going on anywhere except in our own little worlds. We think about our neighbor whom we haven’t seen for a couple of days. We think about those who have no running water and make the choice to not waste water. We stop thinking that it is someone else’s concern, someone else’s fight, someone else’s struggle, and remember that we are our brother’s and sister’s keeper.

Maybe we can smile more. Perhaps we can make eye contact with someone distributing flyers on the street. Maybe we can make a way that our hearts become so soft, that they just remain open, not just waiting for tragedy to happen in order to break our hearts.

Live in loving brokenness,
Coach Carolyn