One of my favorite family heirlooms is an anvil.   It stood proud and strong in front of my father’s business.   Bob’s Fix-it Shop / Cote’s garage,  in So. Ashburnham,  Mass.

I have no idea, how it came to be there, just that it was.  Dad or my brother Dave would use it to straighten out bent parts.  I don’t thing they ever ran a blacksmith shop…  lol

In any case that anvil, when David sold the business went up to Cote Ave outside  his small shop.  I inherited it at his death.

When I received it the stump, it rested on, (nice, square-cut, professional looking), was rotted out and did not weigh 5 pounds, but it was still square and held up the anvil.

I placed it outside my garage door.  I hired a young man to finish the job of painting the house.

Instead of using a ladder, he stood on the anvil to paint.  It no longer was straight and true.

Fortunately, my sister Martha and Ken, were due for a visit.

Ken is always a very present help in times of need.

When we went to throw out the old stump, it disintegrated into dust before I got it to the trash bin.

Then the hunt was on.  I wanted another nice square-cut piece of log… Ken, vetoed  that, and we found a nice sweet gum stump, that fit the bill.

(We disturbed a nudist from her sunbathing, and caused a stir, she dressed and then came and asked if we were from the EPA.  We were not, and had asked permission to collect said stump, so we were not shot).   It was exciting.    lol

So I ‘ve had this new stump for I guess 5 to 7 years.  The Carpenter Bees, almost immediately found it.

I noticed, but felt it was better to be in the stump than in the wood of the house.   After two or three years, you could hear the hum, as they continued to hollow out this stump.

Why am I telling you this?  Those Carpenter Bees are like sin in our lives and our Churches. 

Picture this:

Jesus, is the anvil,  we are the stump.  The Church, charged with setting forth the message, straight and true.

Sin, begins to enter our lives, it hollows us out, we are left with the appearance of strength, still standing strong, straight and true.

But our strength is really a joke.

Some pictures to illustrate:

At Dads garage the anvil stood between the two smaller bay doors.  Unfortunately I have no pictures of David‘s, home or shop.

(If anyone can share pictures, please do. Thanks for the ones I have received).

At my home, in NC:

The blizzard of 15?   Almost a half-inch, we were closed down for three days.  Brutal…  lol

Forth of July, last couple of years.

This year, you can see the Carpenter Bee holes, and the tilt of the anvil.

Today, you see the cost of sin.  The message we send is no longer straight, strong and true.

Our message by our sin, is weakened.

We need to repent, and ask the Lord, to forgive us, and to renew our commitment to Him and His Gospel.

Lord,

Open our eyes, ears, hearts and minds.  Amen