Brittle

Deep thinkers think deeply about how to pray. Many pray that "Thy will to be done." There's a little gulp that happens then, because you know you are asking to be broken then. Many break themselves regularly in the sense that they are willing to let go of what they know for what they might know. The eternal process in them reaches up and blindsides the feebleness of the ego defenses demanding to be treated just so.

It seems to take a lot of energy and courage to live that way constantly, open to the blows that may come and reshape one's sense of oneself and one's experience of existence. Many cling desperately to the rule book as the paper thins and tears easily. Imagine a caterpillar that will have nothing to do with any sort of chrysalis in which it it must surrender to vulnerability and unprecedented transformations. 

It's not hard to imagine a person who, because he or she breaks open regularly by surrendering to the will of the divine, takes some of the burden off the sacred work of death itself.