When Our Cheese is Falling off our Cracker

While the country was being shocked by the bombings in Boston yesterday... I was catching up on news that was a bit older.

This past weekend I was on a retreat with the jr. high youth, so I had a lot of life catching up to do on Monday.

As I scrolled through the internets, I found out that Brennan Manning died on Friday.

Brennan Manning is one of my all time favorite writers. When I was in college I read his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, and it touched my soul. All of his writing has. Whenever I would put down one of his books, I knew the Holy Spirit was pulling me in.

If his books were a true reflection of who Manning was, he was truly a man of grace.

He understood what it was to be broken down, hurt, angry, depressed, battered, and beaten.

Or one of my favorite phrases of his "someone whose cheese is falling off their cracker."



Yet, to still know the unquenchable grace of God. That through it all - God still loves you. He still wants you by his side no matter how awful you may seem. God still loves you.

In an odd way, thinking of this is comforting in the distress of yesterday's events. While the world has lost someone who truly live in grace every day and it is tragic to lose him, we can know that good is still in the world.

When we read books proclaiming God's love, we know good is still in the world.

When we see people helping one another, we know good is still in the world.

When we don't try to point fingers and blame others, we know good is still in the world.

When we can come together and support one another during tragedy, we know good is still in the world.

When we see grace abound, we know there is still good in the world.

God is still working through it all. He is still there. We may not understand evil, or know why it happens, but God is still there, showing us the good. Working through our brokenness.

Even when our cheese is falling off our cracker.

I think Sam Gamgee (or technically, Tolkein) says it well as he comforts Frodo in Lord of the Rings:

Some links for you:

About Brennan Manning's life: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/brennan-manning-man-grace

A reaction to Boston's Bombing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91a19xnXNvo

And if you couldn't read the text in the photo:

Sam: I know, it's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But int he end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding onto something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.