Shifting from Hopelessness to Hopefulness: Part 1

Transcending Brokenness

It is often a challenge as human beings to recognize & live into the fact that we are created by God to be more than mere flesh & blood bodies walking the earth.  Our bodies are so visible & demand so much attention that when the body is limited or broken, we tend to set everything else aside & view ourselves as “sick” & we subsequently can & often do, allow that to become our identity. When sickness or brokenness becomes our identity, we diminish our living & give up hope thus becoming hopeless about any whole healing taking place.  As beings created in the image of God, we are comprised of not only a physical Body but are also comprised of a Mind & a Spirit.  The reality is that by God’s design all three, Mind, Body & Spirit overlap & intersect to create the Soul of a person. The Soul is the personalized expression of our indwelling Divine Spirit & as such it is in the Soul where all hope for our living lies.  There can be only limited, temporary wholeness if hope is absent.  In order to fully transcend brokenness, dis-ease, & limitation that are part of earthly life, we need all three parts, mind, body, & spirit to intersect in the Soul.  When all three of the component parts that make up a human being are in harmony, with skillful engagement with God’s gifted grace of hope, whole living is possible regardless of what brokenness is present.

Skillful Engagement with What is Unfolding

As human beings our Body is the physical aspect of our being that houses our Soul. It is through our bodies that we connect with the physical world & it is through the physical world that we come to know the gifts of our transcendent God who exists in all living things. When our bodies are broken or limited in some way, we are challenged to find ways to adapt ourselves through our mind, body, & spirit.  Regardless of what way the brokenness is caused, all incidents of physical limitations offer us opportunities to make choices that transcend the brokenness & thus increase our quality of life.  The question is, are we with patience & a heart of hopefulness & trust in God’s transcendent grace going to skillfully engage with what is unfolding or are we going to give into the limitations & focus on things that are not rather then what we have to be grateful for?  When we are less then whole or unbalanced in some way, be it; physically broken, mentally unsettled, or spiritually lost, in order to even begin to step into the opportunity to skillfully engage with what is unfolding we have to hold some sense of  hope, some faith that our Transcendent, Creator God is walking with us & will guide us to whole living in one form or another.  Though we may be tempted to choose our own path, quoting Teresa of Avila: “It is presumptuous to wish to choose our path, because we cannot tell which path is best for us. We must leave it to the Lord, who knows us, to lead us by the path which is best for us, so that in all things His will may be done.”

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig, MDiv. MS; Spiritual Consultant with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy