Years ago, during a Thanksgiving visit to my parents, my mother gave us a couple of owls. Not the real thing, but plaster owls – the kind you hang on walls. I don’t have any affinity toward owls, but these once belonged to my grandmother and, for that reason, were very special.
After a week in a paper sack on the kitchen counter, we decided to let the owls out and see if we could find them a place to land on our walls. Colleen suggested a place beneath some cabinets above the kitchen counter. She held them up in just such a way as to hide some holes left behind by an old paper towel dispenser which had long-since given up the ghost. Holding them carefully in place, she asked me how they looked. As the holes were never in my field of vision, I stooped to look and, as I did so, one of the owls slipped from Colleen’s hand and fell to the floor.
Colleen felt badly about the accident and even tried to repair the fallen owl. Later, I came across some super glue and gave it a try myself, succeeding only in attaching my thumb to my index finger. With the help of nail polish remover, I was able to give it another try. Persistence paid off and the owl faithfully performed its duty and also served as a reminder of a valuable lesson.
It’s always easier to tear things apart than it is to put things together. This is true in all earthly relationships – in marriage – in the family – and even in the church. Criticism has it place, but anyone can be a critic. It takes someone special to be a builder and a peacemaker. Seeing what is good in others and building on it takes time and energy, but it is a much better plan than trying to put pieces back together once they have fallen apart. Paul rightly exhorts us, saying, “let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another” (Romans 14:19).
— Glen Elliott —