As I walked through the old city centre of Beirut, the shells of buildings remained. Streets are eerily quiet except for a tourist or two. Businesses long shuttered were reminders, as was a vintage cash machine (ATM). As I reflected on one building, I initially that I knew what it was. I loved the simplicity of its design, the gentle links to the location with the stone façade, and the ties to the past with a hint of Art Deco design influences. Even as I began to put a label on the image in my mind, I realised that without people living in its rooms, roaming its halls, the building was simply a shell.
Wholeness is a combination of inside and out. Either one can be clear to the observer. Without the other, everyone knows it is closer to a shell or a possibility. It is not complete. Wholeness is defined by more than one layer. It takes the externals, internals, and the interactive mix of the two to make anything complete.
My being is whole when the physical and the mental are combined with my soul. It is in the wonderful mix of all three to define me. Even beyond that, experience and life remind me to understand the potential of my wholeness, there is an infusion. “God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.” (Romans 8.16) With this awareness, new possibilities await. The shell of our lives connects to our spirit. Our spirit, informed and growing with Divinity, sees beyond us to the larger story and our calling. It is in living out kindness, care, and compassion that we understand what it means to be whole.
With destruction toughing everyone and everything, restoration, and recreation are required. Even in the silence and the tears as Beirut’s destruction lingers, I have the potential to be restored in Divine love. I am not alone. I am part of a Divine family filling this world. We have hope-filled possibilities.
