Stay Close to the Cracks

Several years ago, I wrote a post on Godspacelight.com, Stay Close to the Cracks which was inspired by Leonard Cohen’s song Anthem. This weekend, in the midst of my joy at finishing my book and indulging in my joy practice, I recognized that joy needs to be balanced with grief and action over the many areas of devastation in our world. I watched a number of videos of swollen rivers and destroyed communities as a result of Hurricane Helene and I wanted to turn it all off. I listened to Trump tell lies about the response of FEMA, Vice-President Harris and Haitian refugees eating cats and I wanted to turn that off too. I watched the news about growing violence in the Middle East and the loss of more lives not just in Gaza but also in Lebanon, as well as in the other wars in Ukraine and the Sudan. That too I wanted to turn off. It is so easy to turn off our response to these horrors or to get angry because we feel impotent in the face of so many challenges.

However, as I revisited Cohen’s song and the post I wrote about it, I realized how very pertinent they still are for today. We need to stay close to the cracks in our society. Close to the injustice, the violence, the pandemics and the environmental devastation that are changing our world and crushing so many lives. There are so many cracks in our society – cracks in the social fabric that have made us aware of ongoing racism, and the growing gap between rich and poor. Cracks in our economic and health care systems as we all struggle with the impact of inflation and increasing prices on our lives. It is very sobering to know that the U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate of any Western country.

Cracks Give Us Hope

We must let the light shine through, so that we know how to respond without becoming casualties of our fears and all the pressures that are on us. Leonard Cohen’s prophetic voice still challenges us today as he reminds us that there is indeed a crack in everything but this is not a reason for despair but rather for hope because this is indeed how the light gets in. Similarly in Eager to Love, Richard Rohr comments that St Francis of Assisi asked us to stay close to the cracks in the social fabric of our world. It is a thought worth reflecting on.

It is this thought that encourages me to look at the cracks in the pavement as I walk, to see what is growing and what responds to the light – the plants we call weeds, the plants we want to root up and get rid of this is what thrives in the cracks. We don’t like them. We don’t want anything growing in the pavement cracks that will disturb the neat and ordered pattern of our lives. We don’t want pandemics and racism and war to grow in the cracks. We don’t always want to see the light.

Weeds pushing up through the cracks.

Everything in life and in our world has cracks, wounds and broken places that tell of pain and suffering. Sometimes we try to cover them over, attempting to seal them off from the light. But this only makes them fester and get worse like a boil on our skin that needs to be lanced.

Yet it is in the cracks, the broken places of our lives and world, where violence flares and pain cries out that healing also happens. When we acknowledge injustice and the pain it causes, we take the first step towards wholeness. It is into the cracks that light can shine and water can seep. It is in the cracks in the concrete that seeds can lodge, germinate and take root. And as green shoots reach for the sky, the crack enlarges, the concrete crumbles and what was meant to live and breathe thrives once more.

How Do You Respond to the Cracks?

Sit quietly in the presence of God, allowing the love of the holy and ever present One to wash over you. Read through the prayer above several times. What cracks in your world, what places of woundedness and vulnerability that give you ongoing pain come to mind? In what ways have you tried to cover these over, perhaps with a facade of laughter or with a semblance of respectability? Or, as the effects of the pandemic still rage, and COVID continues to take lives, are you responding by pretending it isn’t happening and risking your life and of those around you by not wearing masks or staying home when you are sick? Are there ways you respond, perhaps with fear, or anger or intolerance that show these are festering? Perhaps there are things you need to confess or seek forgiveness for. Offer these up to God in prayer.

Now think of the light that shines into those cracks. Where have you seen glimmers of God’s wholeness? What has it begun to give life to? Are you aware of green shoots emerging towards the sun? How could you nurture their growth and make help them to thrive?

As I walk our neighbourhood, I notice several rain wise gardens on my route. What was once a solid concrete slab in some places has now been transformed into gardens that channel the water into the topsoil and down into the water table where the water can accumulate and provide for future dry periods. Even our church became rain wise several years ago so that the rain from the huge sanctuary roof no longer creates a flood of water that overflows the drains and clogs the waterways.

Dedicating St Andrews rain garden

Sometimes when we stay close to the cracks we realize that they need to be nurtured and strengthened to rebuild the fabric of our lives and our society. And as we nurture these it is not only the surface life that thrives but it is the deep wellsprings of the water table that flourishes too.

What is your response?

Read through the prayer above again. What slabs of pavement are you aware of in your life and society that need to be broken up with gardens? Is there something the spirit of God is prompting you to do that could help accomplish this?

Now listen to Leonard Cohen sing Anthem and allow the spirit of God to stir your imagination. Is there another response God is asking of you?