The Work After the Breaking

A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble

Jan 07, 2026

“Nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known.” — Luke 12:2

brown concrete column — Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash

There is a rabbinic parable told in many forms.

In the beginning, the Holy One created vessels strong enough to hold divine light. But the light was too intense. The vessels shattered, and sparks of holiness scattered throughout the world, embedded in dust, hidden in brokenness, lodged in places no one would choose to look.

According to the story, the world we inhabit now exists after the breaking. Creation did not fail. It fractured. The task given to humanity is not to pretend the vessels never broke, but to gather the scattered sparks and repair what can be repaired.

This work has a name in Jewish tradition: tikkun olam—the repair of the world.

The parable does not promise a world without rupture. It assumes rupture. It does not imagine innocence as the goal. It imagines responsibility. Moral courage, in this story, is not heroism. It is the willingness to enter the aftermath of damage and refuse despair.

We are living in a time after breaking. This parable helps us understand what comes next.

Repair does not mean restoring the world to how it was before the breaking. That world no longer exists. Repair means attending to what remains. It means gathering what has been scattered—dignity, trust, law, moral courage—and refusing to let them disappear into the dust.

This work is slow. It is often unglamorous. It requires patience rather than purity, persistence rather than spectacle. In Buddhist teaching, this kind of courage is sometimes called right effort, the steady commitment to reduce harm and cultivate wisdom, even when the path is long and uncertain.

Across traditions, the wisdom converges: repair begins with presence rather than perfection.

Moral courage does not require certainty about outcomes. It requires fidelity to the work at hand. It asks us to tell the truth even when it implicates us. It asks us to resist the temptation to retreat into cynicism or rage. It asks us to stay in relationship—with one another, with the fragile structures that still hold, and with the future we are shaping whether we intend to or not.

The parable ends without closure. It does not tell us when the world will be whole again. It only tells us that sparks remain, waiting to be gathered.

Repair is not the work of a single generation, or a single faith, or a single nation. It is the shared labor of people who refuse to abandon the world after it breaks.

That refusal—that choice to stay, to gather, to mend—is what moral courage looks like now.

We are in this together,

Cameron

Reflection Questions

Where do you sense the “after the breaking” in your own life, community, or country right now?
What feels most fragile or scattered in our shared public life—and what small acts of repair might help gather those pieces?
What kind of courage is being asked of you in this season: speaking, staying, organizing, listening, or tending something quietly?

A Prayer for the Day

A Prayer For the Work After the Breaking

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Source of life, truth, and moral courage,
We come to you not from a place of innocence,
but from the aftermath of harm.

We live in a world where vessels have broken—
where trust has fractured,
where power has been abused,
and where truth has been treated as expendable.

Teach us the courage of repair.
Not the courage of domination or certainty,
but the courage to gather what remains
and tend it with care.

Help us resist despair when the work feels endless.
Help us resist purity when it tempts us to abandon the world.
Give us patience for slow mending
and faithfulness to the small acts
that keep the future possible.

May we become people who stay—
who refuse to look away,
who refuse to give up on one another,
and who labor for justice
even when the light is faint.

Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Gathering the Sparks

Today, choose one small act of repair.

It might be writing a note of gratitude or accountability.
It might be supporting an organization working for democracy, justice, or truth.
It might be having a careful, honest conversation you’ve been avoiding.
It might be resting—so you can return to the work with clarity.

Before you act, pause and name this intention silently: I am gathering what has been scattered.

Let this practice remind you that repair does not require grand gestures. It requires presence, persistence, and care—offered again and again.

Carry this practice forward into the days ahead. The world is not healed all at once. It is repaired by those who refuse to abandon it after it breaks.

Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…

January 15, 2026, 7-8pm EST - FREE Online Webinar: When the Internet Hurts: The Hidden Online Dangers Facing Our Teens and How Faith Communities Can Respond, Join me in conversation with Sharon Winkler, survivor parent and nationally respected youth online-safety advocate. Sharon’s son, Alex, died at age 17 after experiencing cyberbullying and algorithmically targeted pro-suicide content. Since then, Sharon has dedicated her life to helping parents, educators, and faith leaders recognize online dangers and build safer communities for young people. Register here.

NEW!!!! February 5, 2026 - Margaret Wheatley and and I are launching a new online course called “Leading with Spirit,” a six-session journey into soul-grounded leadership designed to deepen your trust in guidance, nurture perseverance, and rekindle imaginal wisdom for our fractured world. Take a look at the course outline. We are really excited and hope you can join! Scholarship are available if needed. Learn more here!

February 11th and 25, 2026 - Join Our “Building a Culture of Leadership Within Congregations” Cohort facilitated by Rabbi Benjamin Ross and me! A two-session course for ministers and faith leaders ready to strengthen how their congregations and ministries identify, develop, and support leaders. Learn more here.

July 19-24, 2026 - Join me and amazing co-facilitator, Victoria, on retreat in the back-country of beautiful Wyoming. The Art of Wilding is a 5-Day Expedition for Women Leaders. We will spend the week reconnecting to nature, exploring our inner landscapes for change, and engage the wisdom of spiritual teachings. Click here to learn more.

I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.

Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…

I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.

Scholar and teacher, Vanessa Muchado de Oliveira Andreotti, has been developing an extraordinary body of work on meta-relational AI. I’d encourage you to do a deep-dive here: https://burnoutfromhumans.net/ She has also written two books that I think are required reading - Hospicing Modernity and Outgrowing Modernity. Check them out!

Have you discovered Dr. Stacey Patton yet? Buckle your seatbelt! She is an award-winning journalist and professor who is offering a powerful public lecture series called “Manifest Delusion.” Learn more here.

If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.