Shattered Pieces

They were beautiful. A treasured collection of brilliant, shiny, colorful, oh so delicate glass. For over 20 years I've been blessed with these special gifts from my husband's Aunt Delores. I prized these pieces and took gentle, loving care of them year after year. They were unpacked, individually, from their tissue wrap and placed on the highest branches as to not be touched by young ones who may not be careful enough. They also held this high position to show off their beauty to all who were blessed to take in the glory of our tree at Christmas time. They were my German-made, hand crafted, glass ornament collection.

I am referring to this precious collection as past-tense because, on the very day that I finished decorating our tree, I was alarmed by a tremendous crashing sound. The tree came down, landing on the banister, and taking out nearly all of the 20 some fragile ornaments that I had so delicately cared for all of these years. They were now strewn one-third of the way across the house upstairs and down. Tiny shards of shattered pieces - no longer recognizable as the beautiful objects representing Christmas any longer. They were now of great danger to little bare toes and had to be cleaned up as soon as possible. Good thing it was after bed time and most of the little toes in the house were safely tucked into their sheets.

I went to my husband, and pulled him away from a job he was doing out in the garage, to have him help me out. I was a wreck. All I wanted to do was scream, cry, curse like a sailor, blame someone for this loss, this great mess. We just both got to work sweeping, picking, vacuuming, straightening, righting and securing the tree. Hours of work. Days later I was still finding tiny shards of sparkling glass in the carpet on the steps... I felt like a CSI agent with my flashlight and tweezers picking up trace. Each one made me, again, feel the loss.

It took days before I could "fix" the tree. Remove the hooks that no longer held the beautiful keepsake that used to hang from it. Move and replace ornaments into places that were now bare. I was angry. Sad. Feeling pretty ripped-off. Why? Why did my beautiful tree have to fall? Why did all of those wonderful ornaments have to get destroyed? I was thinking and feeling all these things as I was fixing my tree and then I saw it. The ornament that didn't get broken. The one that made it through the disaster. The Holy Bible. There it hung. Right in a place that looked as if it should have landed square on the railing... front and center, at the perfect height to have been smashed like the rest. Interesting. How did it not get shattered like the others?

Then I thought, wow, this is a lesson on life. On the meaning of why we decorate, plan, bake, shop, cook, wrap, travel, send, and give. We are celebrating Christmas and for what? It is so easy to get all wrapped up in the commercialism associated with Christmas. The icons that have become so familiar; Santa, snowmen, toy soldiers, reindeer, pretty packages, elves, ribbons, evergreen trees, wreaths and bows... all of these symbols of Christmas were smashed to smithereens. What remained? The Bible. The Good Book. God's story. His love letter to us. Our recorded words from our Heavenly Father - God's Word.

Though it was simply an ornament representing the real thing - it touched me deeply. Made me think. Made me realize what is truly important. What will last through to the end after everything else is lost. Shattered. Gone... God. God lasts. He is there even when your prized possessions, your precious loved ones, your health, your marriage, your finances, or even your sanity are gone. God is there.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son." Revelation 21:6-7

"See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." Hebrews 3:12-14

Pastor Matt prayed this prayer of confession and forgiveness at the candlelight Christmas Eve service this year. I found that it fit right into these thoughts and lessons that I was learning through my recent losses:

Gracious God, you loved us so much that you reached into this broken world with your love to save us. Yet we acknowledge that too often we fail to love you and each other. We sin against each other and You by our thoughts, words, and actions. We so easily become a sign of brokenness instead of a reflection of Your great love. As You have given the sign of Your grace in Jesus again this night, hear our confession, forgive our sin, and give us a sign so that we would know with confidence that we are saved from death by Your great mercy and love.

"See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us - even eternal life." 1 John 2:24-25

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptable with reverence and awe" Hebrews 12:28

A kingdom that cannot be shaken. No shattered pieces. Real. True. Solid. Forever. God's promises are the prized possessions that I need to treasure and lovingly care for and put on the highest place. I thank the Lord for the lessons He teaches me, even when I have to loose precious things to understand the true meaning.

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b