It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway: And Other Thoughts on Moving Forward

by Elizabeth Passarella

The whole crux of the Christian faith is that we cannot save ourselves. This is meant to be good news, although for people like me, who pride ourselves on being supremely capable, it feels irritating at times. Even when I have a win—I succeed at being gentle with my child! I forgive someone who hurt me, despite the fact that I really didn’t want to! I am humble for a few minutes in my day!—I know that I can’t fix the brokenness inside me or overcome my own sin. For people who don’t share my faith, this sounds totally depressing, I know. And entire self-help sections of bookstores tell you otherwise. I know this too. For some reason it is easier to believe that we can muscle our way to better, more fulfilled selves, rather than accept that we are hopelessly flawed and all of those efforts are going to be temporary. It doesn’t mean we are idiots. Or weaklings. We know the phone number. We stay on the block when we are lost. We use the tools God gave us: brains and senses of humor. But ultimately, we cannot always find our way back when we are lost. He has to come get us.