It is much easier to be resilient when we have a good support system to hold us during difficult times. Jesus' way was one of dependence. He became a child dependent on Mary and Joseph's love and care and his Jewish community. He needed his little community of disciples around him in his most vulnerable and darkest times. He asked them to watch and pray with him because it was too heavy a burden to carry alone. At the end of his life, he needed others to help him carry his cross. Dependence is not popular in today's world. Nouwen states, "Every time I am willing to break out of my false need for self-sufficiency and dare to ask for help, a new community emerges--a fellowship of the weak--strong in the trust that together we can be a people of hope for a broken world."
The story is told about an elderly man who was dying and called his family to his side. He gave a short, sturdy stick to each of his family members and instructed them to break the stick. They tried to snap the stick in half with difficulty. The old man said to them, "This is how it is when a soul is alone without anyone. They can be easily broken." Then the old man gave each of his family member another stick, and said, "This is how I would like you to live after I pass. Put the sticks together in small bundles. Now, break these bundles in half."
Not one person could break the sticks when they were in small bundles of sticks tied together. The old man smiles. "We are strong when we stand with another soul. When we are with another, we cannot be broken."
~Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Song: You will be found, One Voice Children's Choir
Reflection:
We are often tempted to be self-sufficient and it's hard to ask for help. Who are the people you call on in your most vulnerable and dark times?
Reflect on the quote by Nouwen: Every time I am willing to break out of my false need for self-sufficiency and dare to ask for help, a new community emerges--a fellowship of the weak--strong in the trust that together we can be a people of hope for a broken world." How can we be people of hope for our broken world during this Lenten season?
Resources:
Estes, C.P. (1992). Women Who Run with the Wolves. Ballantine Books
Nouwen, H. (1990). Walk with Jesus: Stations of the Cross. NY: Orbis Books
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