Finding the Light Within the Cracks

Dear Friends,

In his poem, Anthem, Leonard Cohen tells his reader,

“There is a crack in everything (there is a crack in everything)

That is how the light gets in.”

Don’t miss the cracks in our world. Despite the call to be socially distant, we are called to draw near to one another in support and compassion. Even though familiar routines have disappeared, new ways of being and doing are emerging. Despite the limitations of this pandemic, we can pause to listen, look, reach beyond the moment. 

There is a crack in everything. God is in the cracks.

    God, who teaches us the unruly freedom of the Word

    God who inspires the dignity of each person and who teaches us what it means to live a 

    connected life in a global world

    God, who gives us the Incarnation in a human scale and not as an abstraction

    God, who bids us to accompany one another in the darkest of days so as to find the cracks 

    and so enter the light

    God, who travels with us even when we travel in disagreement with one another.

This is our God. While human leaders stir fear in the people, God stirs hope. While human leaders hold back life to the full from all, God gives life to the full to all. While human leaders can give mixed messages, God offers truth.

“Ring the bells that still can ring (Cohen continues)

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything (there is a crack in everything)

That’s how the light gets in.”

Come on, sister! Come on brother! Let’s look for the cracks together and not give up.

Beyond the isolated and insular is light. And the light shines in the darkness. Ring the bells. Tell everyone who will hear to listen. God is new in our midst.

~ Sister Joan Sobala