A Shattering Of Glass

I was getting ready to have two friends over for brunch.
I got up and decided not to walk that morning.
I had cooking and baking to do, which I thoroughly enjoy.
I was still in my pajamas, knowing that I would dress after I finished everything.

I was listening to a podcast as I worked.
I looked at the clock and saw that I had forty-five minutes before my friends arrived.
Satisfaction.
Much was accomplished by not going on my walk.

I set the table and was pleased with the way it looked.
My scented candle was lit; the fragrance familiar and welcome.
I realized that I wanted to get two mugs from the cabinet over the refrigerator.
The mugs were not for brunch, but rather for later in the day.

I opened the cabinet and noticed that I had to move a stack of four 13 x 9 glass dishes.
Three were Pyrex, but one was a Longerberger dish that I loved.
As I have done many times before, I put the stack of dishes on top of the refrigerator.
It was just for a minute, until I reached behind to get the desired mugs.

I turned to get the footstool, realizing that though I’m tall, the mugs were too far back.
In an eye blink, the entire stack of four glass dishes crashed to the floor.
I turned to see glass everywhere.
The shattered glass looked like pieces of ice.

I didn’t know where to begin.
Forty minutes until my friends arrived.
I set to work.
I got the push broom from the garage and the large trash can.

I pushed the glass into a large pile that was at least 3-4 inches high.
The glass broke in large pieces, but a fine dust of glass was around the edges.
I thought of my grandchildren and my son’s dog.
I thought of anyone who walked barefoot in my kitchen.

I found large chunks under the island chairs.
I found large chunks near my refrigerator.
I got a ruler and went along the base of the refrigerator to get any glass.
I got some, but know that I pushed others further underneath.

I realized that a dust pan and brush was not going to handle this job.
I went back into the garage to get the snow shovel.
I shoveled the glass from my kitchen floor into the large trash can.
I was seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

It was now twenty minutes until my friends arrived.
I quickly put all the things back into the garage.
The trash can with the broken glass was quite heavy.
I did a last survey of the floor and ran upstairs to get dressed.

I told my friends about the morning.
When I had time to think about it, the Pyrex dishes could be replaced.
It was the Longerberger dish that I knew was impossible to find.
If I happened to find one at a thrift store or antique store, it would be quite expensive.

 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. (1 Peter 2:4-8)

When I had time to ponder the morning after my friends left, I thought of Jesus.
Jesus, the Scandalon.
Jesus, the Stone of stumbling.
Jesus, the One we will inevitably confront in our lives.

Jesus is the One on whom we will stumble.
Jesus is the Rock who will break us, in order to make us again.
Jesus will shatter our old ways to pieces so that He can make us whole.
Jesus redeems.

There was nothing I could do to put the pieces of my glass dishes back together again.
They were shattered; forever broken in pieces on the floor.
We stumble upon the Stone that is Jesus.
We stumble, only to be made new again.

The broken pieces of glass went out with the trash.
Not so with Jesus.
He is the Scandalon, the Stone of stumbling.
He is the Rock on which we stand.