Broken Things to Mend

Brother Jeffrey R. Holland introduces his magnificent little book with the
following poem by George Blair: More of Brother Holland's insights will follow in other posts.


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!"