Tuesday afternoon, after hearing about more school kids and teachers being murdered, I went to the shore to breathe and process. I found a warm patch of sand and sat watching the waves crash on the rocks. And I picked up this old, broken abalone shell.
As I held it, I was comforted to know that God holds us in all of our brokenness. Some of the pieces can’t be put back together, not in this life anyway, but if God holds all of the brokenness, then at some level we are whole.
That feels like hollow consolation for those who can no longer hug their loved ones. But if that knowledge, that memory of wholeness, can inhabit my being, then I can act out of that place of hope to help create a different future. What’s broken is broken. But what is not yet broken does not have to break.
Today, offer kindness to all. Wonder about another person’s life rather than judging it. Call an old friend, or make a new one. Be love in the world. Live hope.