“Without the foundation of being seen, soothed, safe, and secure, you search and wander, assuming you’re on your own. . . . Why would you wander from the God you love? Because you have not been seen, soothed, safe, and secure enough to trust him! Your embodied self has little or no reference point for trust.”- Michael John Cusick
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”- Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)
In Chapter 6 (“Turning: Discovering We Are Broken, but Not Bad”) of Sacred Attachment, Michael John Cusick notes our human tendency for self-reliance, autonomy, and independence. Most significantly, the author states, when we make those choices, we cut ourselves off from what we need to survive and heal.
Therefore, Michael John talks about five categories of our human condition, what he calls the Five Ws. They help us to understand how and why we mishandle our brokenness. The Five Ws = wretchedness, weakness, woundedness, warfare, and wiring. The author covers the first W today.
1. Wretchedness. When we hear the word wretch, Cusick says, we think of the hymn Amazing Grace. Hence, it’s logical to assume wretch is just a synonym for sinner. And an especially vile and wicked one at that.
However, wretch likely originated from the Anglo-Saxon or Old English usage of wrecca. Meaning ‘banished or exiled.’ So, a wretch lived in poverty. Furthermore, in the Bible, the use of poverty usually implies much more than one’s economic status. Essentially it means to be poor in spirit.
In conclusion, the author explains:
“Being a wretch . . . you are simply homeless. A prodigal. A wanderer who’s lost their way. . . . Wretched describes how you have been in exile from the arms of love . . . . you search and wander, assuming you’re on your own.”
Today’s question: Have you ever found yourself with little or no reference point for trust? Please explain.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Wounds of presence, wounds of absence”