What Sustains

• Posted on Apr 9, 2014

What Sustains

 the more I am hollowed

by the fire, the more my ribs

spread like the tree of life.

the more I am washed

by the tears of others, the more

my heart rounds like an ocean shell.

the more stories I tell

of how one picks up another,

the more my hands open

like scoops of grain.

To be what others drink,

To be what others stand on

To reach what they love–

We should be so lucky

to be worn by this.

                                Mark Nepo

 We all find that as we live this life and accumulate years, we also find that we have innumerable joys as well as innumerable heartache.  Life is full of both and thus and ever shall be.  The trick of spiritual maturity in Christ is to find a way to experience suffering as a way to open our hearts further.  We are surely worn by life—but we can be worn in a wonderful way….maybe like a pair of comfortable slippers, or a beloved wool sweater, or a great tree that grows more majestic and worn over the decades.  The way we wear our life can be a way to open life for others or close life down.  How may our “wornness” be a way to new life?