Address our brokenness

Address our brokenness

Young Patrick saw little incentive to challenge his privilege and the pretenses of his sin. As we will see, for him it would take a great tragedy to brutally destroy that pretense and reveal the hard truth to him. For far too many people, this kind of crisis is the only way these hard truths are exposed, rather than their doing so voluntarily.

That makes sense. After all, why would we want to voluntarily expose our failings? They are painful, exposing us to shame and fear and the possibility of alienation, even exclusion from the security of our relationships. Why would we willingly embrace that kind of vulnerability?

While such questions make sense, they pave the road to a dire destination. We do not need to wait to hit rock bottom in order to face and address our brokenness. It is into this very place—this scary place—that Jesus invites us so that we can embrace the blessing of the humble and contrite heart, if only we dare expose the pretense of our hidden nakedness.


-Jamie Arpin-Ricci, Vulnerable Faith: Missional Living in the Radical Way of St. Patrick

Filed in: Breathing Space, Saint Patrick
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