In the days of sail the Royal Navy had a place for everything and everything in its place. Woe betide anyone who failed to notice this. Watch-keeping had its dog-watches so that all crew members had a fair crack of the whip. Built into the programme was a make do and mend period when ratings could darn their socks and patch up their clothing.
In our throw-away society we are seeing a reversion to the days familiar to a vanishing generation, to old-timers who saved brown paper and string, had shoes repaired – or even repaired them themselves. TV programmes like Repair Shop and Money for Nothing are introducing us to the idea of renovating old items instead of replacing them. Even if this sometimes seems like OCD staging a recruiting drive in nostalgia-land, we find our hearts warming to the idea of reinstating household items or vehicles that have served us well and been subject to the wear and tear that is part of life’s routine.
This is a micro- or nano- version of what is at the heart of the Christian faith – redemption. The Bible can be read as an extensive take on putting right what has become defective. With all our flaws, it tells us, there is something worth saving, reinstating, making as new. It is a powerful and thoroughgoing expression of the hope that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 13 and 2 Corinthians 5.17. Degradation and attrition do not have the last word. The worst of us, as well as the timid and inoffensive, can be redeemed. Self-centred and scheming personalities can be changed to become helping hands. Half-hearted aspirers can become useful members of society.
When we consider the encounters Jesus had with all sorts and conditions of men and women, we see what this means in day-to-day routines. There was no endeavour to shape those he met to fit a preconceived pattern. Each person had different needs, different capabilities, different failings. Whether it was lack of faith, preoccupation with climbing up the greasy pole or wrenching something out of an unpromising career, a person meeting Jesus could find eyes being opened, dreams taking shape, connections being made.
In effect, if for the moment we leave traditional vocabulary aside, Christianity is one big make do and mend operation. At great cost it is possible for things – and people – to be changed for the better. The Maker who is beyond our sublunary experience has put into being a rescue programme that brings us out of darkness into his marvellous light. There was a price to be paid and he paid it. In his hands make do and mend becomes something more than patchwork. It is transformation.
MIXED-RACE MINISTER
‘I am “mixed-race”. My mother is white-British (do I say ‘British’ or ‘English’?) and my father is Indo-Mauritian.’ Aneal Appadoo explains his background on the website of Christ Church, Surbiton Hill, where he is an associate minister. He adds that his parents are both working-class. He did not receive a university education until he trained for ordination after three careers in unskilled industries. Racism was part of growing up for him. See more on the website. Go to ‘Resources’, then ‘Blog’.
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