Where Did You Find God Today?

My mother had a mahogany tier table in her living room. It had three lion-paw legs. Three round shelves, connected by spindles, were stacked in descending sized circles, like a wedding cake design. On it was all of her most precious figurines. Many, like the table, were from her mother and grandmother. I grew up knowing about the invisible barrier around that table. Look but don’t touch.

I tired to teach my rambunctious son that, but when he was playing pee-pie with his grandfather, the chasing and giggles led way to disaster. He tripped and grabbed for the first thing – yep, the tier table. Down it went on top of him.The figurines catapulted into the air and, in what seemed like slo-mo, crashed to the ground, rolling, breaking, shattering. My mother and I stopped breathing.

My son, being two, was in shock and then, as we lifted the table off of him, the trickled tears turned to wails.  I carried him off to examine the bumps and bruises, my mother in tow.  After all was well and boo-boos kissed, we returned to the living room to survey the damage. My mother kept whispering. “They’ re just baubles. Nothing compared to my grandson.”

There, at the dining room table sat my husband and my dad–newspapers spread between them, with tweezers, toothpicks, a magnifying glass and Elmer’s glue. They had separated the pieces into piles and were painstakingly gluing back on fingers, noses and other porcelain body parts. It took them hours that weekend, but all but one figurine was restored.

Mom began to cry as they placed them back on the up-righted tier table. I told her. “I am so sorry. I know they have all lost their value.”

Through watery eyes she whispered, “Oh, no. Now they are more precious than ever.”

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored,
the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of
him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus
Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.   (Collect for the 2nd Sunday in Christmas)