the resetting of broken bones

Thomas Merton wrote, "As long as we are on earth, the love that unites us will bring us suffering by our very contact with one another, because this love is the resetting of a body of broken bones. Even saints cannot live on this earth without some anguish, without some pain at the differences that come between them. There are two things which we can do about the pain of disunion with one another. We can love or we can hate. Hatred recoils from the sacrifice and the sorrow that are the price of this resetting of broken bones. It refuses the pain of reunion...but love, by its acceptance of the pain of reunion, begins to heal all wounds" (Seeds of Contemplation).

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Reflect on your most meaningful relationships.

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Can you recall a particular time of difficulty in the healing of a relationship?

Merton speaks of the "sacrifice and the sorrow that are the price of this resetting of bones". Can you recall an experience of sacrifice that led to reconciliation and healing?

Prayer:

Your body was broken, O Lord,
that we might be restored to you.
As we offer ourselves to one another,
as we are healed in the presence of brokenness,
remind us of your love for us,
and lead us toward love for one another.

Amen.