The Broken Swan

I went to my favorite country store over the weekend.
The store where I buy my favorite candles.
The store that has homespun fabric, country signs, and accents.
There it was.

I have had my eye on this for a couple of years now.
It has changed location in the store, but it is still there.
I walked up to look at it like I do every time.

There on the table was a large wooden swan with a perfect curve to its neck.
Its neck is the shape of an inverted question mark.
The price tag on the swan had an amount and the words, “as is.”
I didn’t have to guess the reason for those words; I knew the reason why.

The swan’s beautiful fanned tail was missing a piece.
It was indeed a broken swan.
Broken or not, it still seemed to call to me.

There is something so regal about a swan as it glides across the water.
There is aloofness about them, as they seem to command the area with their presence.
A man was in the store looking at the furniture.
You know they mate for life, he said definitively.

He proceeded to tell me all I would ever want to know about swans, but I was delighted.
He even connected the fact about the swan mating for life to his own 48 years of marriage.
I congratulated him.
I looked back over at the wooden swan.

Today was the day.
I would talk to the manager of the store, a kind Mennonite man.
He knows me from all the times I am in his store.

You have a swan downstairs, the one with the broken tail.
Is there any way you might be willing to sell it for a bit less?
I knew that if the swan hadn’t sold by now, it would sit there for a bit longer.

I thought of my kitchen and my old Hoosier cabinet.
The swan had a place waiting for it, right on the top.
I could position the swan in such a way that the missing piece would not be noticeable.

I put out a fleece.
If the manager reduced the price of the swan, I decided that I would buy it.
He came back and told me that he would sell the swan for less.

He went back downstairs to get the swan for me.
He brought it to the register and totaled it along with a few other things.
I couldn’t wait to get my swan home.
Why did I feel the need to buy the swan today?

Swans mate for life.
The man’s words repeated in my head.

I have seen wedding invitations arrive with stamps that had swans pictured on them.
I have seen lovely ice sculptures of swans at wedding receptions.
I have seen towels folded into the shape of two swans on the pillows of hotel beds.
Weddings and swans seem to go together.

I thought about the way God designed marriage.
One man and one woman together for life.
Marriage, as God designed, is like a beautiful swan gliding along the water.

The swan, with the broken tail, stands for what many are trying to do to marriage.
There is a piece missing.
God’s piece.
Marriage the way God intended.

Even though the missing piece of the tail could be patched, it will never be the same.
The patch will never look like the original design.
The original design was seamless, flawless.

Swans mate for life.
Nothing can change that fact.
One man and one woman until death separates them.

Another thing you do: you flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because He no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are His. And why one? Because He was seeking Godly offspring. So guard yourself  in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. (Malachi 2:13-15)

God designed marriage to be between a man and a woman.
God was seeking godly offspring.
The swan representing God’s design for marriage is not broken.

That is why I like the swan that sits on top of my Hoosier cabinet so much.
It is a reminder.
Even though I position the swan so the missing piece is not seen, it is still broken.

No matter how the media spins it, no matter how many people condone it, marriage done any other way but God’s way is broken.

A piece is still missing.
Attempts to patch it will fail.
Attempts to position it so the missing piece will be covered is futile.

Only God can make marriage whole.
Only God can mend the break that seems irreparable.
God is the piece that is missing.
Without God, marriage is a broken swan.

 

2 responses to “The Broken Swan”

1. What a beautiful article about the swan! Your articles really add to my day; thanks, Gina!

   Reply

   • Sue,
     I am delighted that you are blessed.
     Isn’t it wonderful to find God in the simplest things?
     Gina

     Reply