Grateful for the Mending of Broken Things

I have been feeling very reflective lately. It must be the new year.  I have been going through old blogposts and I came across one that I forgot I had written.  I read it and was reminded of what a good life I have and I am so grateful for the faith and knowledge I have been blessed with.  I get teary eyed just thinking about how wonderful life really is.  I wrote this one below on February 28, 2009.  Its sort of long, but please take the time to read it.

BROKEN THINGS TO MEND

"So last night I was hanging out with some friends and I went to my room to grab my phone. I happened to drop my phone (which isn't an unusual occurrence) and when I picked it up I looked at the screen and I thought, "Oops! I did it again!" I was so mad! Another phone broken!!! I think in the past year I've been through 4 or 5 different phones. My wonderful friends tried to console me and I put up my best front as I mourned the loss of yet another beloved cell phone. We had a good laugh as we spoke of my other cell phones, like the flip phone that was held together only by a wire, and another phone that had a screen that turned black. Then a friend mentioned my camera with the broken screen and I thought about how so many things in my life have broken. So what do I do when things in my life break? Well, when my cell phones break I either buy a new one or inherit an old one from a friend. When my camera broke I learned to keep using it despite the broken screen. I just can't see the display of the pictures I am taking. So, whenever I use my camera, I am reminded of its brokenness. Whenever my car broke down I took it into a mechanic to get it fixed and then when it could not longer benefit from fixing, I got rid of it.

When I went to bed last night, I kept thinking of these broken things. Then I thought about broken hearts and hopes and dreams. Where do we go to "fix" those broken things? My thoughts turned to a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland called, "Broken Things To Mend." I pulled it up online and read it, searching for an answer. When we suffer from a broken heart where do we go to get it fixed? Do we take it in to be fixed and pick it up a few days later? Do we buy a new one? Or do we just let it stay broken and have a constant reminder of the pain that caused it? The answer, of course, is quite simple. Who mends our broken hearts? The answer is:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

When we have a broken heart that needs fixing, we take it to the Savior and He can fix it and heal the pain. He is the only One that knows how to heal us and make us whole again. Elder Holland said that during His mortal ministry the Savior was saying to us, “Trust me, learn of me, do what I do. Then, when you walk where I am going,” He says, “we can talk about where you are going, and the problems you face and the troubles you have. If you will follow me, I will lead you out of darkness,” He promises. “I will give you answers to your prayers. I will give you rest to your souls.”

We do not have to pay money for the healing and we do not have to live with the pain. All we have to do is come unto Christ. He has felt ALL of our broken hearts. Can you imagine? What a painful and horrifying experience, but He did it for a purpose. He suffered so that we don't have to. What an amazing blessing to know that when we are broken, we can be mended! All we need to do is take our broken hearts to Christ and He will mend them and make them whole once again.

In Nazareth, the narrow road,
That tires the feet and steals the breath,
Passes the place where once abode
The Carpenter of Nazareth.

And up and down the dusty way
The village folk would often wend;
And on the bench, beside Him, lay
Their broken things for Him to mend.

The maiden with the doll she broke,
The woman with the broken chair,
The man with broken plough, or yoke,
Said, “Can you mend it, Carpenter?”

And each received the thing he sought,
In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
The broken thing which each had brought
Returned again a perfect whole.

So, up the hill the long years through,
With heavy step and wistful eye,
The burdened souls their way pursue,
Uttering each the plaintive cry:

“O Carpenter of Nazareth,
This heart, that’s broken past repair,
This life, that’s shattered nigh to death,
Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?”

And by His kind and ready hand,
His own sweet life is woven through
Our broken lives, until they stand
A New Creation—“all things new.”

“The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,
Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,
Mould Thou into the perfect part,
O, Carpenter of Nazareth!”
-George Blair

I am grateful for my broken phones and broken cameras and broken cars. They remind me that I am truly blessed. I am grateful for the broken hearts and hopes and dreams. They remind me that I have a Savior who heals me and makes me whole."