brokenness.

Christ needs to be the foundation - the cornerstone.
A classic biblical metaphor that i believe to be solidly on track.

However, the thing that sucks about this metaphor: by the time you hear about it and ponder it and fully understand what it means for you and your life - you're not new to the world anymore. If that was the only nugget of life you were subjected to for the first x number of years (x = the amount of time between birth and an individual's understanding of the cornerstone analogy) then i feel like you could rather easily set this foundation and then build upon it. obviously this is not the case, which is why this metaphor poses a problem. despite how much we believe it and attempt to follow it, we've already begun building the walls, roof, doors, and windows of our lives (none of which are cotton - the fabric of our lives).

cue the story analogy.

i remember when i was in about 1st grade i got a tight Lego set for Christmas. It was a castle in the forest dude set (the ones that look like Robin Hood and his Merry Men and were covered with leaves and other greenery...they also had strapping yellow and red feathers you could put in their little green/brown caps.). anyway, my dad and i spent about an hour putting it together, and when we got down to the last piece...there was still one left. turns out we'd forgotten to put a piece down in like....step 3. and there was no hope in managing it into the structure now without breaking it. it was a small piece, and even though this one spot on the left side of the castle was a little unstable and looked kinda goofy - we didnt want to spend another hour breaking the thing down and rebuilding from step 3. too much work. so we put the piece back in the yellow box with the picture on it and admired our work without the little black 3 x 1 piece.

it looked good.

the point i'm getting at: i feel like in order to set a firm foundation you need to start anew. It's not possible for you to simply pull out the cornerstone and replace it with a new one - you have to start from scratch.

this is what i think we do with this idea of Jesus as the cornerstone* though. we learn about this piece of our life that is necessary and important, and we strongly consider putting it in there - we even wish it was easier and that we could just slide it right in there - but instead of taking our life apart to put the Cornerstone in, we slip Him back in the package and observe our life sans Christ. Life might actually even look ok without him. we can still admire parts in our life - our successes and abilities and other things we've been given by God's grace - but there is a still a weakspot. we're still very capable of a collapse.

this brings me to what i've been thinking a little bit about lately: the importance of brokenness in life. what is the easiest route to building a new foundation? brokenness. we need to have no choice but to tear down what we had built and start anew with our Cornerstone. Brokenness is the easiest route to godliness. An interesting juxtaposition, really, but one i feel is not only super great, but also right on target. We need to be torn down and ripped apart - otherwise we will continue to observe our good-looking life from a distance without any understanding of the crucial aspect missing underneath. i think this is the saddest story possible. someone in dire straits without anywhere else to turn is sad - but they are in an incredible place at the same time - they have the perfect opportunity to find a new cornerstone. however, the CEO of a major corporation who has everything together and is built on a foundation of money and success - where is the opportunity for Him to establish this new cornerstone? the opportunity is much less possible. there is a beauty in brokenness. the comforts of life can blind us and leave us empty, but a total destruction of our life allows for an incredible transformation to take place. the Cornerstone can be laid and new walls can be built.

a life built on Christ has to start with Christ. you can't just slip Him in and move forward - it isn't possible - and just looking at the 3 x 1 piece while trying to build the castle around it - that's setting you up for some serious Jenga**. in the long run, the Jenga-action might prove to be alright...as long as it eventually topples. the faster your tower collapses the better. regardless the life - there is a need for brokenness before moving forward in Christ. i think so at least.

brokenness is what i long for/brokenness is what i need

-ap.


* - should cornerstone be capitalized? i feel like its a Jesus reference...so it probs should. just like Savior, Messiah, Lamb, etc...yeah. Cornerstone it is. i also love incorporating an asterisk. awesome.

** - yes. Jenga is a verb.