Brokenness

I've felt stretched to my emotional limit yesterday and today, between being part of a clergy fitness review, and simultaneously working with the unhealthiness of someone else. I think when I was younger I had the idea that once people got to be a certain age (let's say, since I was optimistic, 22 years old) they learned how to be responsible for their own actions and to behave with integrity and maturity.

Obviously, this isn't always the case.

The thing I've noticed with some of these Advent texts is the outlandishness of their claims - righteousness and peace will kiss, the lion will lay down with the lamb, people will no longer learn war. But for me, being honest about human brokenness, at least in the short run almost means taking on more modest goals, like honesty, empathy, and emotional maturity.