Unless you have gone through it (and I do not wish it on anyone), you have no clue what a person faces. No, I am not talking about sitting in the dark and crying like most of you arrogantly preach about. Grief changes a person mentally, emotionally, and physically. The brain is scrambled. Circuits are fried. New pathways will have to be made over time. The person you were is not who you become. As I have said before, Grief has no time limit. Those who say otherwise are arrogant know-it-alls.
To all of you dealing with your own form of grief … like picking up broken glass, you may get cuts and scrapes, and it will not be pleasant … but you can put those pieces together into a new masterpiece. God does see the final work, after all, HE created you. He knows what pieces go where and when to put them there.
Molly was overjoyed that her grandmother had given her the family china set. Not only was it very old and worth more than she could guess, but it carried with it, a rich history. This china set had served world dignitaries and military heroes.
Molly felt great pride in being entrusted with the heirloom set. She was so focused on where she was going to display the set that she had not noticed the water damage to the box. When she picked up the box it crumbled. Before her brain could begin to process what was happening, the entire china set was cascading in pieces down the stairs.
Molly’s grandmother rushed down the hallway to find Molly, bewildered and in tears, standing on the top step, in the attic. Her grandmother was taken aback by the sight. However, after only a moment, she was focused on Molly. “Molly dear. Are you okay?” Molly was now in full awareness of the situation and hysterically crying.
Her grandmother wasted no time guiding her down the stairs and to the chair. Holding her tightly, she softly spoke to Molly. “Dear, please don’t cry. These dishes were just things. They were not living beings, nor were they more important than your life, my dear.“
Molly tried to speak but was still too shaken. Her grandmother continued, “Calm yourself my sweet Molly. I have a secret to share with you. This china set was once a larger set.“
Molly sat up, looking at her grandmother with confusion.
“You she, my dear”, her grandmother continued, “over the years, several pieces have been broken or lost. Some of the breakage was even intentional. My grandmother, the one who first used this set, had a temper. My grandfather had a way of setting off her temper. Let us just say, my grandmother might have used various pieces to, um, get my grandfather’s attention.“
Molly had stopped crying by this time. Her grandmother continued.
“In addition to my grandmother’s, um, temper, other family members have had random clumsy spells. (clears throat) I may have contributed to the downsizing once or twice, or maybe a few times.“
Molly’s eyes now big and focused on her grandmother clearly saw the snickering.
After a while of silence and hugging, they both proceeded to clean up the mess.
Molly could still not bring herself to discarding the broken shards. She tucked the remains away in her closet. She hoped she could restore the set.
After a few months, while browsing the internet, Molly happened upon an idea. Without any deterring thought, Molly began to “repurpose” the “broken pieces” of the china set that held a rich history. Molly created a beautiful mosaic masterpiece with the broken pieces of china.
Life is full of twists and turns. There are ups and there are downs. There are times when we feel broken and shattered. GOD is THE Great Artist. HE uses our brokenness to create a masterpiece.
