For centuries now, humans have been struggling against one another. In fact, we even struggle against ourselves. My years of wrestling with depression, eating disorders, alcohol abuse, relationship issues, and bursts of reactive rage at the injustice of it all, revealed something to me about myself. Being close to my own suffering brought me closer to the suffering of others, and ultimately illuminated the human condition.
We are all broken. We all have our reasons. Sometimes we’re shattered by the choices we make ourselves; other times we are fractured by things that happen to us, and that we would never choose. While our brokenness is one aspect of our shared humanity, and is the basis for our search for comfort, meaning, and healing, too often it becomes an identity that keeps us in the cycle of suffering instead of popping us into a new way of living and being together.