room to gather...

There's something about the word 'gather'... it makes me smile, and my soul sing 💓💖💝💞💟

Partly because it is rich in meaning - just look at the options, when you google 'gather definition' [at this point I tried to copy and paste the definition, but it messed up the format of the whole post 😒, the vestiges of which you can still see...]

We gather thoughts, twigs, information, fabric, children, ourselves...

One of my favourite Bible verses is John 6.12... after feeding the 5000, with five barley loaves and two fish, Jesus tells his disciples:

Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

(King James Version)

I know the point of the verse is to show there were so many bits left, they filled 12 whole baskets - quite a miracle of crowd catering! But I love these ten simple words, in isolation, regardless of context...

Gather up the fragments (of memories, of moments, of society), that nothing (and no one!) be lost - if only we lived like that, living each day (whether it be good, bad, or indifferent) to the full. If only we saw every single person (whoever they may be) as worthy of gathering up, so none may be lost...

And when we gather up these fragments, we can put them to good use - like the wee bits of broken pot used to create the mosaic pictured - and create something beautiful, which just may last for several centuries...