Day 2. New plaster

 Ive spent all day looking out for whatever it was I was supposed to see so that I could take a photograph of it and then wax spiritual and lyrical for your general delectation and delight.

Ha.  If you are expecting sunsets or birds in flight or stunning Irish landscapes.........

No such luck 😊

Here is my inspirational image for today

Yes, this is a freshly plastered wall !!   It is what has been going on in my house today.  After Christmas we had a burst pipe in our rental house which brought down a ceiling and caused a huge mess.   Keith managed to put up the plasterboard and today the plasterer came to skim the ceiling. and whilst he was at it we asked him to do a wall too.  The wall has always been a bit rough and uneven and we thought we might as well use the expertise which was available to do a proper job.

So now we have a nice, smooth, flat surface on which we can paint or wallpaper or do whatever we like.

Two things occur to me about this.   1) Plastering looks relatively simple but its a highly skilled job.

2) a freshly plastered wall is full of possibilities.  It is a new start. A blank page. The thinnest skim of plaster can cover over a multitude of sins and present a completely blemish free surface.

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook the other day

I think he meant it to be  good advert for being a Buddhist .  But when I read it I just thought, ' My goodness, what sort of effort does it take to reach nirvana ( or heaven) all by yourself....?  And why on earth would you bother when someone else has offered to do all the work for you and has a free ticket with your name on it just there for the claiming?''

We all know that our lives are like a wall full of holes and cracks.  Through circumstance and heritage and our own poor choices we have been battered and muddied and imperfectly built.  Quite probably our foundations arent even all that secure.  We can try by our own efforts to re-build, repair, patch up and re-plaster.  But we are not master builders and we just can't do anything like a good job - in fact our attempts might well just make things worse.   God offers to cover over all our faults and failings - a free gift to us - by clothing us in Jesus.   Jesus who has paid the price, done the work, come down from heaven and made a way for us to join Him back there as perfected and clean as a freshly plastered wall. 

Eph 5  :26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

I love the fact that Jesus chose to come to this world as the son of a carpenter.  He grew up learning a trade, a skill, an art.  He is a craftsman - just like the plasterer who came to fix our walls today.   Jesus is not afraid to get His hands dirty. He doesnt look at us and suck his teeth and go away shaking His head.  He knows exactly what to do to fix us.  And He doesnt even present us with a bill at the end of the day.  He has paid already.

Thank you Lord.