Do you ever try to fix things that can’t be fixed?
Or maybe this is the better question…
Do you ever try to fix things that shouldn’t be fixed?
I’ve been rolling these questions around in my mind since I read this quote by Anne Lamott late last night:
“Everything slows down when we listen and stop trying to fix the unfixable.”
It seems like each time I read it, I had a different situation or story pop into my head that changed the meaning of these words for me.
- I thought about the times I tried to fix something that was broken and learned it also wasn’t up to me to fix it.
- I thought about the times I tried to fix something I thought was broken but it learned it was just as it was supposed to be instead.
- I thought about how much energy I’ve wasted not embracing what is and letting it teach me or not walking away and letting that be the lesson instead.
As I woke up this morning still contemplating that one line, I looked for the fuller quote and found this:
“We pay attention, listen, open our hearts. How could those be enough?…Everything slows down when we listen and stop trying to fix the unfixable. We end up looking into other people’s eyes, and see the desperation, or let them see ours. This connection slips past the armor like water past stones. Being slow and softened, even for a few minutes or seconds, gives sneaky grace the chance to enter.”
— Anne Lamott, Hallelujah Anyway
Oh I love the adjective she uses before grace… “sneaky”. Just last week a friend and I were texting about the moments when you find yourself both happy and unsettled all at once… and you wonder how that’s even possible…
She said it was because of grace.
I now like to think of it as that “sneaky” grace instead.
My prayer as we enter this week is that we are showered with “sneaky” grace just at the moments we most need it…
and that it helps us pause…
and it helps us listen…
and it helps us look at everything anew
