You Either Harden or Heal
Choose Your Hard
Limb by limb, he was cut to pieces.
Left leg. Then right.
Left arm. Then right.
Even his head — gone,
from a cursed ax.
But the Woodman’s heart was strong.
Strong enough to keep going.
Building a better home for the life he was working toward.
Each time, the Tinsmith replaced what was lost.
And each time, it carried the Woodman forward.
Until it didn’t.
The final swing split the Woodman’s torso in two.
And when he was rebuilt…
his human heart was gone.
The heart was soft.
But never weak.
It held his reason.
His purpose.
And without it…
He kept moving,
but he didn’t know why.
So he stopped.
He never went back for her.
Losing your purpose doesn’t usually happen all at once.
It’s piece by piece.
Through the things that wear on you —
until you can’t ignore the cracks anymore.
So what do you do with the glitches — the obstacles, mental or physical?
Keep replacing what’s broken
and hope it holds?
Sit in it
and stay stuck?
Or…
Take a step back
and actually face what caused it?
If you take the time to process where you’re at,
the truth has a way of surfacing.
And your next step becomes clear.
How you choose to execute it…
that’s where your heart shifts.
There’s a difference between
hardening at the heart…
and healing it to keep it soft and aware.
When you choose to heal it,
the cracks are filled with something stronger.
Like gold in the places that once cracked open.
When you’re willing to face it…
to bring those wounds to the Light —
you don’t lose your purpose.
You step into it.
Inspo for this post:
Fr. Mike Schmitz | 3rd Sunday of Easter Homily
Previous blogs to skim:
