Cracked Grace: Compassion's Challenge

Cracked Grace

Compassion’s Challenge

Compassion is my challenge today.

I find it difficult to have compassion

For those who appear to have none

In their righteous indignation

And moral superiority.

Compassion means I look past

That indignation, moral ego, and judgment.

Instead, I see the heart that aches,

The wounds that aren’t healed.

Compassion brings me to the hearts of each of us

Broken, yearning, seeking.

With compassion,

I pave a path for all to walk with grace.

Got Swiss Cheese Holes in Your Heart?

Cracked Grace

Swiss Cheese Holes in My Heart

“Plants," they said.

"Fill your home with plants to clean the air.”

Searching for a cure for my child’s cancer,

We followed a strict diet regimen, changed our lifestyles,

And filled our home with plants.

No cure. Not with diets, plants, lifestyle changes

And surgery, radiation, and chemo.

I bought a Swiss Cheese Philodendron

At that time.

When I see it growing healthy and green,

I’m sometimes reminded of loss, of sorrow,

Of the Swiss Cheese Holes in my heart

Since the death of my child.

Other times, I’m reminded that throughout these years of loss,

I’ve begun to thrive in other ways I never imagined,

Sharing with others and holding them up when they, too,

Have Swiss Cheese Holes in their hearts.

I’m also reminded that I love Swiss Cheese

And that even in the worst of times,

I can make a sandwich from those

Swiss Cheese Holes in my heart.