An interesting email arrived in my in box today. It’s from Roy Williams, “The Wizard of Ads.” In it, he briefly tells the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with five loaves and two small fishes. It’s a story of which most of us are familiar. But the part that Roy focuses on is the quote attributed to Jesus after the meal; “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”
Perhaps, because it’s a Monday, or perhaps because we are just coming off a big holiday weekend spent with friends and family that this email so resonated with me. As Roy further writes, “Consider. This was a person of unlimited resources, a man who could create abundance from nothingness, yet he said to his followers, “Gather up the fragments.””
Have you ever stopped to “gather up the fragments” of your life?We find ourselves at Thanksgiving and Christmas confronted with life-fragments we’ve been trying hard to forget. Encounters with uncomfortable relatives bring sharp fragments to the surface. Memories of past failures and embarrassments, hard times and strange relationships emerge from conversations with people who remember us differently than we are today. And then we have to visit places we’ve been trying to forget and recall events from which we’re still recovering.
Am I the only person who goes into the holiday season with mixed emotions?
“Gather up the fragments.”
Unresolved fragments are shrapnel, cutting us deeply.
Handled fragments are sandpaper, wearing off our rough edges.
Softened fragments are building blocks, giving us insights to get things done.
Celebrated fragments are nutrition, remembering past miracles in our lives.
Bright mosaics are made from gathered fragments. Broken. Colorful. Unique.
Just like the pattern of your life. Negotiate your broken places. They allow for new connections.
Appreciate the difference of your past. It adds color to your future.
Happy Monday. Have a great week.
Tags: business, family, friends, life, miracles, what's important