“Full cruciformity . . . to give someone your broken heart means breaking pride, breaking lies, breaking fear.”- Ann Voskamp
Ann Voskamp continues Chapter 18, the concluding chapter of The Broken Way, by noting the benefit of sitting in your burn and brokenness. As you live into the givenness even of your brokenness, the crisis possesses the potential to bond you to Christ and other broken hearts.
Therefore, full cruciformity means embracing suffering and brokenness through the gift of presence. Ann explains:
“Suffering is a call for presence . . . not only to the brokenness of the world, but to the brokenness in our own soul, and to risk trusting others with our wounds.”
For those of us with broken hearts, we need key people. Ann describes these key people as people who:
- break us open so we see how Christ never fails to hold our wounds
- break us free from all crushing expectations of ourselves and others
- tell us it’s safe to be real here and let the brokenness come
Furthermore, Ann describes how we become a key person. This happens when we hand a key to break someone free. In the process we give each other our broken hearts. Then, our brokenness heals us in the strangest way- we let that brokenness come.
In conclusion, Ann describes what it truly means to live given. It’s more than giving your skills, resources, time, hands, and feet. Living given means:
” . . . breaking down all the thickened walls and barriers around your heart with this hammer of humility, and trusting the expansiveness of the broken-wide-open spaces of grace and communion.”
Living given = giving the brokenhearted your brokenness + not being afraid of theirs.
Today’s question: What Bible verses help you attain full cruciformity in your life? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The fellowship of the broken”
