Broken People

I wonder how many formerly innocent children have been the victims of divorce - how many lives divorces have been destroyed? So many times, I think we are tempted to look on divorce as only impacting and hurting the lives of the man and woman, yet that is so far from true. If the couple has children, they are impacted just as much.

I just watched the music video by Lindsay Lohan for her song called "Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)". I know how many rumors have surrounded Lindsay Lohan and have stained her career as ink stains clothing. People, particularly Christians, look down on her from all sides as the drug-addicted, therapy-regular, and the jail-hopper that we all know her to be. I am not innocent of looking down her just as much as the next person. Yet when I watched that music video, I wondered if it did not explain so much of how she became so messed up.

I understand personal responsibility. Lindsay Lohan can hardly blame her own actions on anyone else. Yet knowing her background helps me to understand where her downward spiral began.

Similarly at school, I hear of so many divorces...families broken...children estranged from their parents...fights that end in heart-rending tears... My heart bleeds for all these broken. The undocumented casualties caused by divorce must equal and exceed those of wars and cruel dictators.

You want another celebrity example? Look at Demi Lovato - the Disney sweetheart who has so much potential and is still so young. Already her career is beginning to be shrouded by rumors as she cancelled her tour and checked into therapy for "emotional issues". Again, one wonders what made her go wrong? Ironically, just as I was thinking of this, I found yet another song which I believe has not yet been released but that Demi wrote for her last album before deciding against putting it on the album. It is called "For the Love of a Daughter" and details her own heartache caused by her father.

People deal with pain in many ways, some move on and others are destroyed. Every physical abrasion leaves scars - if they are bad enough, some people resort to covering them with makeup so that they are no longer obvious. But how do you cover the scars on your heart? How do you reach so far inside to cover up what is so irrevocably torn?

All these stories of so many shattered lives break my heart. I wish so much that I could reach out to every scared and broken girl and boy.

If I have learned one thing from my research tonight, it is that I should not be so quick to judge others without knowing what they have been through that led them to who they are. Also, I have learned that I need to be more compassionate and loving towards those who I know are going through a painful experience. I need to listen more, to notice more...to be a better friend to those who need someone to be there for them. And I wanted to share these thoughts with you. Tonight has opened my eyes - I see past all the superficial success of this world and into all the devastation that is rampant in the hearts of so many. So many need to hear about the ultimate Healer, the most loving Savior, the only One who can mend so many broken hearts - Jesus Christ. I need to be a better ambassador of His Word. I know that if I truly want to help all the broken people of this world, the only true way is through the sharing of the Gospel. Any other help is temporary and only skin-deep. Only God can change the heart and give the broken-hearted rest in Him.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)