It is not just a nice pious Christian word. It is not only a state of teary eyed prayer, or even repentance.
As humans, we are broken.
Think of the word broken without adding the suffix 'ness' (and along with that, the religious connotations)... what does it mean? For example, if I woke up one morning and noticed that my forearm was bent at a right angle halfway between my elbow and wrist... I might say my arm was broken, or the more familiar phrasing 'I broke my arm'. Or for one more example, you are driving down the freeway in your car, and the engine starts to sputter, and then stops... as you coast to the side of the freeway... you realize that your car is broken, or more familiar to us, 'your car broke down'.
dictionary.com has the definition of broken as: (#4) not functioning properly; out of working order.
Brokennesss in its simplest definition is the state or quality of being broken.
For the christian, brokenness is not a good thing (in itself), neither is it something to be sought after; but something to be realized.
Brokennes is realizing that I do not work correctly. I am not functioning properly. That realization should lead me to humble myself before God, and ask for His power and His life to work in me.
We should not lead a broken life.
God alone is wise enough to lead a broken life. The fun thing about it is, when God takes the lead, and directs a broken life, the life is no longer broken. Our proper function is to follow God.
