Broken… But Fixable?

 

“We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned from his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” *

Last summer, a landscaping crew leveled the backyard and covered a large portion of it in bark. They also helped create a gravel pathway that wound around the perimeter of the yard. An oval shaped area in one corner was planned to be used as a small prayer garden.

By the time our backyard church group started last August, the basic prayer garden had been laid out.  It was bare, but still a peaceful place for our early morning meetings with the branches of tall evergreens fanning out overhead and round pavers forming a cross on the gravel underfoot.

 Later when the weather cooled down, Al and I planted several containers of shrubs in the yard and a hydrangea, ferns and flowers around the outside of the oval garden. We also purchased a birdbath, a “Heavenly Blue” ceramic bowl on a matching stand to put beside the garden. The color heavenly blue seemed appropriate!

When the weather became much too cold for our backyard church, our small group began meeting online. In both yards, the flowers disappeared and ferns turned brown. Except for a patch of tall, dried “mule” grass in the back, all of the plants lost their leaves, exposing bare branches. Eventually they became mounds in the snow.

 One bright spot was the blue birdbath, whose water had frozen solid. Rather than storing the heavy birdbath in the garage during the winter, it was easier just to leave it in place. The birds were no longer around to use it anyway; and our dog, who had used it as his preferred drinking fountain when outside, had to go back to drinking from his metal water bowl in the house.

As the snow and ice melted, plants began emerging once again, still just twigs but at least identifiable. I noticed that the birdbath was empty one day when the thermometer had begun rising above the freezing mark and decided to fill it up again.

 It was a surprise when a bucketful of water cascaded from the blue bowl onto the ground. Looking more closely, I discovered a crack running from the rim down to the center of its base. The thought that the water might expand in the bowl when freezing hadn’t occurred to me.

Al suggested using sealer to mend the crack. Both sides had to be sprayed, the top and underneath as well. Unfortunately, in the process of the sealing, the base of the birdbath was unknowingly fixed to the bowl. When picking up the bowl to turn it over for a second application of sealer, the base was lifted off the ground and then fell down onto the cement with a crash.

Now instead of one crack to seal, there were dozens of pieces to join back together! Those ended up in the trash; but rather than throwing the whole thing away, the bowl was set on another base…an upside-down plastic flower pot!

Flowers can be planted around the plastic pot and will in time cover it with their foliage.  Oh well, as long as the bowl can still hold water, the birds and Teddy the dog won’t mind. At least it was fixable. Broken? Yes! Discarded? No!

With Easter Sunday only a few days away, the music of Handel’s Messiah will be heard in churches and over various airways around the world. The words “All we like sheep have gone astray….and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquities of us all,” were taken from the prophet Isaiah, who foretold how the Messiah would come to earth bring salvation to a broken and rebellious world.

Jesus, the Messiah, was led like a lamb to be slaughtered, pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

 Death did not mean the end for Jesus. He rose from the tomb, appeared to His disciples and many other witnesses and has made Himself known to us through their words and through the testimony of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

Are we broken? Yes! Discarded? No! Because of His great love for all mankind, God sent His Son to bring us back into a right relationship with Him. Because Jesus lives, we too can have eternal life! Hallelujah!

*Isaiah 53:5-6 NIV