"Stamples"

What holds this broken world together? On a global scale we see corruption, systematic evil, wars, and ethnic cleansing. A bit closer to home, we look at the people around us and we see scary and debilitating physical affliction; our friend in her early 30's, almost completely dependent on others because of Huntington's disease, my parents fighting battles with long term diseases, our neighbor, whose only surviving relatives both diagnosed with cancer. We zoom in even closer and see our own personal corruption, relational dysfunction, and deep emotional wounds.

The brokenness of life hit home in another way this week. A few days ago, Justice was playing with the boys at church when he banged his head hard. In tears, in pain, bleeding and broken he came looking for his papa. After a comforting hug, firm pressure to stop the bleeding, and a quick trip to the ER, things get patched up. The result: three staples (or as Faith calls them "stamples") holding the broken skin together so it can heal.

"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

Since the beginning, all the complexity of the universe, the complexity of life, and the complexity of life together, are all held together in Him. This world is broken, that's for sure, but look around and you'll also see staples holding things together, and wounds beginning to heal.

My friends, who Sunday mornings for the past four years have gone to a local nursing home to share coffee and music with people much of society has written off and forgotten. Ethnic divisions that fueled wars overseas melt away as Tutsi vs. Hutu, Karen vs. Burmese, or Shi'ite vs. Suni, are set aside in order to forge a new life here in our neighborhood. Gardens, teaming with beauty and productivity in the midst of abandoned and overgrown ruins of the Empire.

He is holding it together; it's not all going to spin off out of control. May we all experience His comforting presence, His firm dealing with the problem, and the painful yet healing process of being put back together.