Fixing that Broken Record
May 14, 2019
Have you noticed people are suddenly buying up old record players and are now playing vinyl records again?
Amena Brown was our speaker last Friday at our annual Gala Luncheon and she amazed us with her poetry and storytelling. In her newest book entitled, “How to Fix a Broken Record,” Amena reminds us that “the only way to fix our broken records is to examine what we have recorded there and trust the God who makes broken things whole to heal our faulty recordings and replace them with true and hopeful ones.” (page 206)
What broken records do you have? That you aren’t smart enough? Strong enough? Good enough? Beautiful enough?
For Janet, in Bridge of Hope, fixing a broken record meant recognizing that she is loved and lovable, and not falling back into “toxic relationships.” She began to recognize that if you hear something long enough, you begin to believe it. And Janet was ready to believe a better story for herself and her children. I hope you’ll take less than 2 minutes and watch Janet’s story.
We all have broken records that need fixed in our lives. Henri Nouwen writes that the three lies we tell ourselves are: I am what I have, I am what I do, I am what other people say about me.
I hope we are all working to fix these broken records (i.e. lies) about ourselves and replacing them with true and hopeful recordings. That’s my hope for you, as well as for the families facing homelessness that we see each day in Bridge of Hope.
Striving to fix my own broken records,
Edith Yoder
Executive Director