Love:
God's Glue
May
they all be one Father,
may they be one in us. John:
17:21
Somewhere in the Far East
there are craftsmen who
make very large earthen
urns. Like any
other pottery, they are
formed, fired in a kiln,
hand painted and glazed.
These are urns that stand
three or four feet tall,
and when they are finished
they are works of art, and
quite valuable.
However, when finished,
the craftsman takes a
mallet and completely breaks
the urn into many pieces,
destroying what once was
a valuable work of art.
Why does the craftsman destroy
a beautiful work of art?
After the urn is in pieces,
the artisan painstakingly
begins to put the urn back
together, almost like putting
together a jigsaw puzzle.
Not the smallest piece is
ignored. Every piece is
fitted and glued into place
so that neither the depth
nor the form is different
from the original. Although
hard to believe, the finished
product is even more beautiful
than before it was broken.
Every piece is in place,
but the brokenness offers
a special beauty that the
original could never have
possessed. You see the glue
that holds it all together
is precious in itself, since
without it there would just
be a pile of pieces. But
even more important is that
the glue is made of gold.
And what was once just an
ordinary beautiful urn now
has been transformed into
one that is extraordinarily
beautiful, far more precious
and of much greater value.
This story left me with
a profound AHA! As followers
of Jesus' teachings
we are given the opportunity
to see a view of life in
which the bits and pieces
are invaluable parts of
a bigger picture. And when
we begin to fit these pieces
(in the form of experiences
wonderful and not so wonderful)
together, this is a Salvation— to
see the individual ingredients
of our life in the perspective
of wholeness—to see the
bits and pieces in the perspective
of what they are to become.
To see our yet fragmented
humanity in the light of
its potential.
May
they all be one? God
wills wholeness! Ours is
to see in this vision of
wholeness the meaning of
all creation, the meaning
and purpose of our lives.
Often we are given our tiny
human glimpses of finished
products--God's
Masterpiece of creation.
The Kingdom within, the
Kingdom of a God of Love.
When this Kingdom's
bits and pieces are sorted
and blended. We will become
the whole and beautiful
creation we were intended
to be.
A man while touring Italy,
visited a cathedral that
had been completed on the
outside only. When the
man entered the Cathedral,
he found and artist kneeling
before an enormous wall
upon which he had just begun
to create a mosaic. On some
tables nearby there were
thousands of pieces of colored
ceramic. The visitor asked
the artist how he would
ever finish such a large
project.
The artist answered that
he knew how much he wanted
to accomplish in a single
day. Therefore, each morning
he marked off an area to
be completed on that day
and he gave no concern to
what remained outside that
space.
He would take one day at
a time and one day the mosaic
would be finished.
It is our responsibility
to work toward the finished
product of wholeness and
fulfillment. One day at
a time. To use God as
our golden glue to continually
transform the bits and
pieces as they are into
the wholeness they ought
to be. And remember the
golden glue is love.
AMEN.
Blessings,
