“Within each struggle, there is a blessing waiting to happen. The biblical passage of Jacob struggling with a messenger of God is a symbolic story of our own struggle with the unwanted parts of our life. All
during the long night (the darkness), Jacob wrestles with this unknown figure (our unwanted life
experiences). Jacob is wounded in the process (our memory of the experience). He is wise enough to say
to the angel, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” (“Give me some meaning, some hope, some
wisdom from this inner wrestling match.”) Jacob goes away limping but he is wiser than he was before
the struggle began.”
–Joyce Rupp, The Cup of Our Life, p. 128
