Of Weakness and Light

Note: On Fridays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

“Unzip your soul and expose your foibles.” It’s the mantra of my friend Patricia Lorenz, whom you may know from her years of Daily Guideposts and Chicken Soup stories about raising four children as a single parent, her move from Wisconsin to Florida, and her rediscovery of love after decades on her own.

I thought I understood Pat’s wisdom, and attempted to live it wholeheartedly when I returned to faith after decades away. I would tell anyone who would listen (and some who wouldn’t) about my bankruptcy, my failed marriage, my bad behavior, and my detached-retina-in-Istanbul story… always bringing it back to the ways in which God has bailed me out and my confidence and gratitude that he will continue to do so.

But in the past year or so, I’ve found a new depth to Pat’s mantra. For me, those foibles aren’t just the big, showy things that not everyone experiences. They’re also the weaknesses we struggle with every day: holding our tongues before we say something unkind, no matter how true or how funny the observation may be. Rushing through conversations to get on to the next thing, no matter how important or personal the other person’s words must be. Hurrying through prayer because we’re too tired or perhaps too guilty to want to spend time with God.

And perhaps it’s through “boasting,” as Paul says in 2 Corinthians of those smaller, more universal weaknesses that God is shown to be not only the Great Redeemer, but also the Great Equalizer here on earth. For when we acknowledge we share a dark place, it becomes easier to open the way for God to grow our special light.