“Hail, thou ever blessèd morn!
Hail, redemption’s happy dawn.”
Edward Caswall, See, amid the winter’s snow
***
My granny was regular user of the pithy phrase. As well as familiar proverbs such as Look before you leap, All’s well that ends well, A stitch in time saves nine, she had her own ready supply:
You give with one hand and you get back with the other.
It’s no loss what a friend gets.
and lots more besides. I got the significance of most of them – especially when I heard them so often. But some were puzzling to a young ear.
There was a discarded alarm-clock in a table drawer. It had luminous numbers and hands. (Under the bed was the darkest spot to see it glow in the dark. Wonderful!) I was told it had a broken spring and “wouldn’t go anymore”. But my granny would always add, “but that clock is at the right time twice a day.” And, of course, despite the hands never moving, that was absolutely true. It was “right twice a day”.
My granny was one of the world’s philosophers. A broken clock was not useless. There was something in it that made it unique, worth keeping. Oh, I know she was trying to amuse, and intrigue, a small boy, but her epithet contained this truth. Nothing – indeed, no-one – is totally useless. There will be a redemptive feature somewhere, something that can be a pointer to wholeness. Even a broken clock could be restored.
An old clock: fun for a child; numbers glowing in the dark; a chance for your granny to be witty; hands that show the right time twice a day …
So, what are the signs of restoration we might find in the things or people others might consider to be useless and beyond redemption?
***
A prayer for today
Loving God, accept me and believe in me.
Even when I’m stuck, see uniqueness in me and the possibility of restoration.
May your redeeming love point me to wholeness. Amen
***
An original reflection by © Tom Gordon
Tom Gordon's Hymns and Reflections 