THE story is told of a man in charge of building a great cathedral, who was pestered by an apprentice who wanted to design and arrange the glass for just one of the windows. Although he did not want to discourage so laudable an ambition, neither did the boss want to risk the waste of such costly material.
Finally, he told the apprentice he could try his hand on one small window, but that he would have to provide the material for it himself. Undaunted, the apprentice gathered up all the bits of glass that had been cut off and discarded, and with these scraps he worked out a design of rare beauty.
When the cathedral was opened to the public, the people stood in awe and praise before the one small window designed by the apprentice. I remember a similar instance where a friend of mine who ran an orphanage he’d started did not have money to tile the bathrooms of the orphan boys. “Bob could I borrow your car?” he asked, and taking my car he went from one tile shop to another, picked up broken tiles and today those bathrooms are a work of love!
What beautiful stories these are. We go through life thinking that we have been blessed with little or no talent. Maybe we want to be a writer, but can’t write like Shakespeare we think, little knowing that a letter to a lonely aunt, uncle or friend, would create more happiness than the best literary piece. We can’t draw maybe as good as Picasso, but an hour spent with a child, drawing stick figures in the sand, could be moments that child will treasure forever……… and so the list goes on…
Like that apprentice who picked up broken bits of glass and made a beautiful window, or my friend who picked up broken tiles we can make the lives of others beautiful too.
Your broken bit may not be a Miss World smile, but it could be a smile to a troubled neighbour or a forlorn old man looking listlessly into space. Your broken piece of glass, may not be the best voice in an opera, but it could be your voice on the telephone, to a friend in despair….. Oh, the broken pieces of glass that are lying around in you, just waiting to be remade into works of art.
Everyone, can put to use their own little bits of time, talent, influence, ambition and energy and weave them into lives of beauty and goodness of rare value…… pick up those broken pieces of glass today and create masterpieces…! Remember as you begin, that a Master Creator is waiting to see you use those broken bits He’s made available for you, and help craft you into a dazzling artist…!
