This year my office decided to have an ornament exchange to celebrate the Holidays, and I was inspired to write the following while wrapping my contribution. I hope you enjoy it:
There once was a little round glob of glass that lived in the scrap bin at a glassblower’s studio. It wasn’t lonely—it had lots of company, but it was depressed and downcast, because it had wanted more out of life than to just take up space.
One day, the glassblower was commissioned by the city where he lived to fashion some very special ornaments for a tree that would stand in the county courthouse over the Christmas holidays. He was overjoyed at this prospect, because not only would it bring him a handsome and much-needed commission, but it would give him a special opportunity to show what he could do, perhaps bring more work his direction, and let him show his own devotion in a way that was truly unique.
He decided to use only the glass fragments in his scrap bin to symbolize how God is able to use whatever is available to achieve His ends, even the most fragmented and downtrodden. Thus inspired, the glassblower went to work using the utmost of his talents to create glass ornaments that would do justice to the season, the tree, and himself.
The tree was decorated, and it was indeed glorious to behold. People came from all the nearby towns and counties to see it, because the word had gotten out that it was wonderful, and before the end of the season it had gained a fair measure of fame. When it was time, the tree was taken down and the decorations packed away, and everyone thought how wonderful it would be to enjoy them again the following year, but when the time came to retrieve the tree trimmings from storage--they had disappeared! The townsfolk looked high and low, but nowhere could these beautiful glass ornaments be found.
Rumor had it that the glassblower himself had taken them and secretly sent them as gifts to other cities to bless and inspire them by his work. Occasionally, someone would think they had seen one, but the little town itself never saw them again. It was said that every year each glass ball was passed on to yet another town, or even to deserving individuals, to bless them in turn.
And so it came about that the little round glob of glass was able to achieve its heart’s desire: to amount to something beautiful and make a difference in the lives of others. Who knows, maybe it’s even the one you got this year!
Merry Christmas!
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