Hardship
“God rarely enters our hearts through doors we have left open invitingly but through the cracks rendered to hearts through some hardship, or difficult relationship, or a traumatic experience. ”Br. Jim Woodrum,
Society of Saint John the Evangelist, Daily Emails
fork in the road Camp McDowell
The is the touchstone from recovery of any kind of difficulty. Those in addiction call it a moment of clarity. It is that brief nanosecond that a hairline crack develops in our outer armor developed over the years to protect ourselves, a beam of light filters in, and we realize we have made a mess of things trying to change our lives on our own will power.
We don’t at the time know what the answer is, but we decide to ask for help. We come to a fork in the road and decide on a new path.
Later we learn the answer is connection to a higher power, the God within ourselves, the God in others, and God transcendent. Stuart Hoke and 12 step recovery groups have taught us that the hardship, the darkness that we bear can be healed, and when it is, we are called to reach out to help heal others.
The paradox, of course, is that when we reach out, our own healing continues. The darkness that brought us there turns into gold. We are caring for our own soul that has been starved, neglected as we now also care for and show love to the soul of others, and the healing, the love is reflected back in many directions.
Joanna joannaseibert.com