By Jenna Ebener
A reflection
I drink tea every night and was really noticing my mug the other day. It is a clay mug that has always looked broken, yet it is whole. There are numerous cracks on the inside, but they have been there since the mug was created. The cracks are sealed over and smooth, leaving no chance for water to escape. Its appearance in no way impacts its functionality.
I often feel like that mug. Despite the immense mental health progress I have made, it is easier to focus on my flaws than my growth. I often feel so utterly broken and damaged. Yet, that belief is not true. I may see the cracks that cover me, but I am still a complete vessel in God’s eyes. Nothing is truly wrong with me or with any of us. To be flawed is to be human, yet that does not minimize our value or our purpose. In fact, I would argue that our flaws amplify our beauty; they show our strength to keep trusting in God’s power despite our inadequacies.
By continuing to move forward through struggles and mistakes, we show others that we are lovable just as we are. We let God’s love shine through us and impact others. This thought reminds me of a quote from Buddha: “thousands of candles can be lighted by one candle and it’s life will not be shortened.” When we shine, we affect others but do not diminish our own light through that act.
We are in a world that appears more broken by the day. New stories of violence and hatred occur every day. It can be so easy to focus on all the cracks that seem to be everywhere we look. I feel like we are back in the Old Testament time of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 18, Abraham pleads with God to save those sin-filled cities if there are righteous people there. Abraham initially asks God to save Sodom if there are 50 righteous people. When God agrees, Abraham continues to plead until God agrees to save the city even if only 10 righteous people dwell there. While God ultimately destroyed the cities, “he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe” (Genesis 19.29). God kept his promise by recognizing and saving the righteous people.
Where is that mercy now? His mercy comes in the hope that God will save us when he comes again. His mercy comes in the belief that God already saved us by dying on the cross. His mercy comes in the millions of candles he has planted on this earth. We all have the capacity to shine and act as God’s vessels of mercy. We all have the ability to let our single light impact thousands of others. We may not see the impact now but each light matters. Each candle that burns allows more people to see and to have hope. How are you spreading your light in the world today?
(Jenna Ebener, a graduate of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, is a social worker at a school in Colorado for students with a combination of medical, cognitive and behavior disabilities. She relies on God every day to aid her on this wonderful, yet intense journey.)
