Broken Things

Sage Dalton '12


"God dearly loves broken things."
-Jeffrey R Holland


I've thought about this quote a lot the past few days. I thought about when I watched Inez limp to CCNV, his face full of excruciating pain. I thought about it as I tried to process the vast destruction and deep hate we witnessed in East Baltimore. I thought about as I contemplated all the people that the enormous number of sandwiches we packed at Martha's Table would reach. 


God dearly loves broken things. 
Broken hearts, broken furniture, broken dreams, broken houses, broken love, broken intentions, broken boxes, broken souls, broken world. 


In the midst of the sadness and frustration and discouragement I've felt during this trip, I have also felt the closeness of God's love, His very real presence and care for all these broken things.


I have been impressed by the way the faith and action of others are vessels for pouring out this ever present and intrinsic love. I have been awed by the way His love pours forth through the simple actions of others on our trip who consistently and genuinely reach out to strangers, but also to each other. I am deeply grateful to be here and to learn from them. 


Our trip is called faith in action, but I want to call it faith is action. 


According to the Bible, if you have faith, the first and second great commandments are to love God and to love your neighbors (Matthew 22:37-39). Faith leads to love. 


Kurt was wearing a shirt yesterday that had this quote on it: "Love cannot remain by itself -- it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service" - Mother Theresa. Love leads to action. 


In sum, faith in God leads to love, but this love by itself is meaningless and it must be put into action. Ultimately, faith is action. Through action we can be vessels to pour out God's ever present love for all His broken children in His broken world.