
One cool December morning the bough that held the beautiful ornament broke under its weight causing the ornament to hurriedly tumble through the tree’s branches to the hardwood floor below. Upon contact with the floor the ornament let out a loud cry as his beautiful shinny frame crashed into hundreds of small pieces on the floor. While on the floor the ornament cried in agony, pain and embarrassment. All the other ornaments looked down at the shattered ornament. Some felt sorry for him. Some laughed at him. Some ignored him. Some were even excited that he was shattered because now they could be the most beautiful and most popular ornament on the tree. The shattered ornament didn’t know what to do; eventually he decided that he just wanted to be thrown away “there is no way I can ever show my shattered face again,” he thought to himself.
After what seemed like forever a man walked by and noticed the shattered ornament on the floor. Hopeless, the ornament waited for the man to sweep him up and throw him away, or also laugh at him, feel sorry for him, or ignore him like the ornaments on the tree did. The man leaned down and began to pick up the pieces of the ornament preparing to put him back together. “It won’t work,” said the shattered ornament. “I’m too broken, too shattered, and too many pieces are missing,” he continued. “Besides, they will all laugh at me because I was once the most beautiful ornament on the tree and now I am broken, shattered, and busted- leave me alone!”
The man did not listen as he continued to work on the little shattered ornament lovingly and tenderly putting his pieces back together again. “There you go!” The man said. “Now you truly are the most beautiful ornament the world has ever seen.”
“What!” The shattered ornament replied, “how can you say that- Look at me! I’m broken and there are cracks all over me! What will the other ornaments say? They saw me fall and they will laugh at me because I’m still shattered only put back together!”
The man looked at the shattered ornament understandingly and softly replied- “You see little ornament our beauty is not based on our perfection- it is based on our response to our imperfections. Each ornament will experience problems- some fall off a branch, some with age loose their glitter, some crack, others break, some stray away never to see a Christmas tree again. You are blessed because you were shattered and your shatteredness makes you beautiful! You see I know all about being broken."
“How… Why… What do you mean?” Asked the shattered ornament.
“Because…” the man said as he picked the ornament up and placed it on the tree in front of a bright twinkly light “Only the broken and shattered ornaments allow light to pass through!”
Immediately the shattered glass of the ornament glowed majestically as the bold bright light glistened brilliantly through his shattered body. Stunned, the other ornaments admired the shattered state of the ornament and called out to him asking how did he become so beautiful- “I met a man who picked up my broken pieces and put me back together again! That’s what he does- he puts shattered ornaments back together and makes us more beautiful than before we were broken!”
“Who- what is his name?” One ornament asked. “Jesus” Replied the shattered ornament.
From that day on whenever an ornament shattered on the floor Jesus picked up the pieces and put the ornament back together again even more beautiful than before. Each time Jesus put an ornament back together he sent it back to tree to let the other ornaments know to call on Jesus whenever they are shattered because he would do the same for them. With the help of Jesus all the ornaments on the tree lived Joyfully ever after- The End