A Broken Teacup

By Joh W. Vander Velden

If you searched the cupboard of a woman I once knew, you would find at least one broken teacup, standing unused in the far reaches behind all the unblemished. Once I drew out a bit of china examined how it had been carefully reassembled, the yellowed glue the only sign of its repair. “This cup is beautiful, why don’t you use it?”

“It’s broken,” the only response. And I wondered why she had gone to the labor of putting it together, piece by piece.

In life every person faces blows, physical, emotional, spiritual. On occasions most of us find ourselves unable to withstand the force of the impact we must face. Things bend us, things at last, break us. For, though few would acknowledge, we are as delicate as bone china.

I am a broken teacup, shattered by trials and pains of life. My pieces have been scattered, laid out, but never lost. Mended over time, none can see the fractures, few know they exist.

But I do not find myself upon the shelf, not yet anyway. For my God places me among others, which seem pristine, upon the table. Through my tears I say. “I am broken and ugly.”

And God responds, “I have gathered all your pieces, the small as well as the large. I have bound them together and have made you whole again. Broken time and time again but mended by My hand. There is yet much you can do.”

Through my breaking and repairs and in my truthful examination of each chip and crack, my compassion for others grows. I have been mended…and yes, there is much I can do, for my task remains incomplete. So I say, “Fill me Lord.”

You see…I am a broken teacup…perhaps you are as well.

(299 Words) 12–24–2015

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