Broken angel wings
By Kathy Yoder
Every year at Christmastime I accidentally drop an angel, and
every year I unintentionally chip a piece off its wing. I have an odd collection
of porcelain, glass, plastic and ceramic, chipped-winged angels. Instead of
throwing them out, I point the chipped parts toward the wall, trying to hide the
damage. After so many years, I have a rag-tag collection of wall-facing angels,
not good representatives of the angels present during Jesus’ birth.
This year, just when I thought I might have an injury-free angel year, I dropped
an antique gold angel from my childhood. It’s part of my favorite angel choir.
It was the one remaining angel with flawless wings who stood front and center,
fully visible. But now he’s destined to be just another wall-facer.
And that’s not all. As he fell from my hand, dropping slowly in a special
angel-wing-chipping time zone, I heard a heartbreaking sound.
After the familiar sound of impact when the wing hits the floor, the noise
repeated itself. The angel bounced. Bounced! (I didn’t know they could bounce.)
I hated to look. It’s like when you know you’re going to receive bad news and
you keep stalling, trying to delay the inevitable as long as possible. When I
finally looked, I saw the worst angel injury of all time. Both wings were gone.
And so were the arms, making him the Venus de Milo of the angel world.
I stood in place for a while, holding the angel and looking at all of the gold
pieces glittering off the floor. I had the strangest
thought: They shouldn’t glitter when they’re broken, should they? And my dreams
and hopes for one fully-winged angel shattered.
During this blessed time of the year, there are broken-winged people everywhere.
We need to stop pointing them to the wall so we don’t see their brokenness. We
need to slow down and notice them. We need to reach out to them and their
brokenness.
I know what it’s like to spend Christmas alone. No other time is as lonely. I
know what it’s like to have dreams die just as the season starts. I know what
it’s like to have my world turned upside down and inside out and then to marvel
that the sun still shines.
And to be surprised that the earth still rotates on its axis and that people
still smile when everything in my world has come to a screeching halt and life
as I know it has forever changed. I know what it’s like to breathe in so much
disappointment that it’s hard to exhale.
If you are one of the lucky ones whose Christmas is like a Hallmark movie, take
just a little time to pray for those who don’t have your life. Pray for those
who are walking in brokenness. Stop for a few minutes and ask God who you can
help. Ask Him who needs a nice card?
Who needs a kind ear? A genuine smile? Ask God to show you how to help.
And for those of you who live in the glorious light of God and live blessed
lives, continue to fly on God’s love and be a light in the darkness of others.
For those who live quietly with broken wings, for those who plaster on strained
smiles, determined to somehow make it through the holidays without crying or
screaming or just giving up, there is help. If your Christmas is not
greeting-card perfect, know this. God cared enough to send His very best, His
one and only Son, Jesus Christ, just for you.
“For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son. …”
— John 3:16a
Merry Christmas!
