17th September 2019

I never thought I’d admit it, but curling is an exciting sport. On a recent holiday we managed to try our hand at the old game of broomsticks-on-ice. And what a surprise. An ice rink that is smooth and clear. Heavy polished stones that need to be carefully launched and with a subtle twist. Brooms that need to either sweep into action if the stone needs more speed, or to hold back their bristles if it is more advantageous for the stone to make a slower approach.

All games reflect real life to some degree. But big stones and broomsticks? How good it would be to have a magic broom that could either speed things up or to slow things down. I bet Joseph in his Egyptian prison wished for such a broom to hasten his long and weary days. And I bet the Rich Fool in Jesus’ story wished for such a broom to slow down the effects of that dread call from above to take his final breath.

But clever brooms are just for games. (And who of us anyway could ever handle a magic broom?) Our times are in God’s hands. Two years in an Egyptian prison is not an hour too long in the hands of a wise God to achieve his higher purpose. And one life under God is not a day too short to understand that we brought nothing into the world, and that we can take nothing out of it.  

DM 17^th September 2019