Wrestling With Your Humanity

The wrestling, the wrestling, the wrestling. You never count on the brawl. It sneaks up from a dark alley, and suddenly…there you are flat on your back. You have no idea what just hit you. You never count on it, never plan for it, and can never be prepared for it. The fight may last longer than you ever wanted and may be harder than you could have ever imagined. You may want to give up. The fatigue may be too much. But the wrestling… the wrestling is a holy, holy place.

For those who have experienced how cruel and ultimately ruthless life can be, you will taste a dimension of life, and maybe even holiness, that changes the very make-up of your being. For the one who has suffered unexpected loss and lives in the cycles of grief, you will understand the sweetness of each breath and the mirage of time. Blessed are you that mourn, for you will be comforted.  For those who have been abandoned, left emotionally scarred and now desire healthy relationships, you will understand how a Father’s love can heal and comfort and mend the soul. Blessed are you for you shall be called Sons of God. For those who have cried all night long for a marriage that will not be fixed, you will experience the tears of emptying that leads to filling. Blessed are you for though all may seem lost, yours is the kingdom of heaven. For those who feel all strength is gone and you have no fight left, you will experience the miracle of your nothing becoming something. Rest my child, for you shall inherit the earth.

These dark unexpected places are where we wrestle with our humanity. Where the divine eternal in us must face its mortal boundaries. Where we are reminded of the vastness of the Other and the smallness of, we, the latter. It is where we see beyond the veil and maybe get a glimpse of the holy. The wrestling is not the place where you walk away bitter or angry, hard or unforgiving. No, the wrestling is a place where you walk away humbled, grateful, soft, and fragile, maybe even with a limp. You see differently, you embrace differently, and you walk differently. When you wrestle with your humanity, you emerge divinely human and exquisitely free.