Everything Has a Crack in it, Including Humanity

I dropped my cup, and it broke into a thousand pieces.

Everything has a crack in it, and that includes people. Speaking for myself, I have always had cracks. I have always wished I was perfect. For example, I have always wished I was perfect. Another example is that I have always wished I was brilliant. As I used to tell family and friends, I hoped to see not only down the city block but around the corner, using my brilliance to calculate and know what was there quickly. I wish I was the perfect husband. I wish I was the ideal father. But I was never any of those things.

Just by coincidence, when I arose this morning to fill my cup with coffee, I accidentally dropped it, and of course, it broke into a million pieces. I could have gathered the pieces and glued them back together. But I had another identical cup, and there was no point in doing it. However, you brought my attention to the fact that had I been able to glue the cup back together, it would have had cracks. I have cracks. Humanity has cracks, but as Leonard Cohen writes and sits in Anthem, the cracks let the light in. We have to look through and see the light. Here is Leonard Cohen's song, which you can also watch on YouTube.

Leonard Cohen's poem and song "Anthem."

The birds they sang at the break of day

"Start again," I heard them say:

Don't dwell on what has passed away

or what is yet to be.

Ah, the wars they will be fought again,

the holy dove, she will be caught again,

bought and sold and bought again

the dove is never free.

We asked for signs, the signs were sent

the birth betrayed, the marriage spent,

Yeah, the widowhood of every government

signs for all to see.

I can't run no more with that lawless crowd

while the killers in high places say their prayers out loud,

but they've summoned, they've summoned up a thundercloud

and they're going to hear from me.

You can add up the parts, you won't have the sum,

you can strike up the march, there is no drum,

Every heart, every heart to love will come but like a refugee.

Ring the bells that still can ring,

forget your perfect offering,

there is a crack, a crack in everything

that's how the light gets in.

That's how the light gets in,

that's how the light gets in.

My interpretation:

Leonard Cohen's poem 'Anthem' sadly reflects on the inevitability of imperfection and the potential for redemption through our brokenness. It encourages us to see the beauty in our flaws and the world around us, inspiring hope and possibility.

From the very beginning, Cohen recognizes that disorder characterizes human existence. The image of a broken bell and my broken cup, unable to fulfill its traditional function, introduces the question of failure and limitation. But Cohen suggests precisely that these failures pave the way for moments of beauty and insight.

The concept conveyed a powerful metaphor for Humanity, stating that there is a crack in everything. These cracks, these imperfections, let through light symbolize purity and truth. The poem's structure, repeating its refrain, brought home the point that it's always despair after hope, darkness after light, cyclically. Cohen does not flinch at the dark. He insists that it is necessary as a background that allows for illumination. He offers a philosophical stance akin to spiritual pragmatism.

It is similar to mindful meditation, which guides us to self-acceptance and to not beat ourselves up for our mistakes.

I want to thank my Substact friend, Pamela Leavey, for informing me about Leanord Cohen.

Namaste.