Fragments of Ourselves

Three Saturdays ago, a very learned member of our Bible study group said something that quietly stayed with me long after the discussion ended.

She observed that many of us do not truly give ourselves fully to anything. Instead, we give ourselves in pieces.

A piece of our time here.
A piece of our attention there.
A fragment of our commitment when convenient.

The more I reflected on it, the more I realized how true this is across many parts of life.

At work, we give pieces of ourselves to tasks, responsibilities, and expectations. In family life, we offer what remains after the day has taken its share. Even in friendships, we sometimes give only the portions we can spare.

Modern life quietly trains us to distribute ourselves carefully — in fragments. Perhaps that is why life often returns to us in fragments as well.

Our mother used to tell us, her three children - - give to the world the best that you can and the best will come back to you. She knew very well that partial investment only produces partial results. Guarded effort produces guarded relationships. What we give in pieces often comes back the same way.

The sobering realization is that this pattern can extend even to our relationship with God. We give Him a moment in the morning, a prayer when we are troubled and a few quiet minutes when life becomes difficult. But Scripture calls us to something deeper:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

— Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

Not in fragments. Not occasionally. But with our whole selves.

Perhaps we give ourselves in pieces because giving fully feels risky. To surrender completely means letting go of control. It means allowing something — or Someone — to shape our lives more deeply than we might be ready for. Yet faith has always invited us toward something greater than fragments. 

That brief comment from our study group left me with a simple but uncomfortable question: Am I living in pieces? Pieces for work. Pieces for people. Pieces for faith.

Or am I willing to move toward something deeper — a life that is no longer fragmented, but whole. Perhaps the invitation of faith is not merely to add God to the fragments of our lives. Perhaps the invitation is to let Him hold the whole of it. Perhaps the life God asks of us is not a life offered in fragments, but a life surrendered whole.

- Director Noreen