Wednesday, March 14, 2007

fragile things

"it occurs to me that the peculiarity of most things we think of as fragile is how tough they truly are.

there were tricks we did with eggs, as children, to show how they were, in reality, tiny load-bearing marble halls; while the beat of the wings of a butterfly in the right place, we are told, can create a hurricane across an ocean.

hearts may break, but hearts are the toughest of muscles, able to pump for a lifetime, seventy times a minute, and scarecely falter along the way. even dreams, the most delicate and intangible of things, can prove remarkably difficult to kill.."

-neil gaiman

i was looking for a picture to place in this issue’s front cover and happened upon this quote from my blog. i posted it several days ago; but i realized that it ties in really well with the picture i found.

Christ on the cross. what could seem more fragile.. more vulnerable than that? a King helplessly nailed to a tree. broken. shamed. dying painfully amidst taunts and jeers. the image is the epitome of fragility.

and yet, ironically, the image of the cross is also the strongest, most enduring symbol of tough love. throughout the years, billions of people.. billions of souls have been saved.. simply because they believed in Christ’s one act of total love.

because He allowed Himself to be vulnerable.. and because He made Himself fragile, Jesus became, for every one of us, the best inspiration for true love.

author paulo coelho says, “the strongest love is the love that can demonstrate its fragility.” (eleven minutes) but i say there is *nothing* at all fragile about God’s love for us. our Savior may have *looked* vulnerable; His body may have been crushed; His bones broken. but Jesus endured all the pain and suffering because of one thing: His love for the Father.. His love for us.

brothers and sisters, we may feel broken and hurting. our bodies may be weak and failing. but let us not allow our fragility to dampen our spirits. we are strong. we are tough. and we will conquer. because we have a Savior Who loves us. and He will overcome :)

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