In the darkened window of an Amsterdam antique shop one evening, I saw a lively bronze-colored cherub hanging in mid-air and blowing a trumpet. It struck my fancy, and next day I purchased the happy creature, hoping it could dangle somewhere in our Virginia home.
It arrived just before Christmas—when the American post offices were delivering more than one billion pieces of mail a day—and my treasured plaster cherub had a broken arm. Even my best repair work left traces of the fissure.
Yet the cherub still keeps sounding the trumpet, and its countenance beams. I like to think that it first learned to play the trumpet on Easter morning, and that the joy of Christ’s resurrection strikes so deep a hope that not even a broken arm can silence the song of triumph.
When my own limbs are brittler and my heart is heavy, I trust that—like my cherub with a broken arm—I will remember there’s a trumpet to be sounded. Maybe somebody will come along in the darkness and say: “That’s the note of joy I’ve been waiting to hear. I want it—cherub and all.”
Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
Our digital archives are a work in progress. Let us know if corrections need to be made.
Annual & Monthly subscriptions available.
- Print & Digital Issues of CT magazine
- Complete access to every article on ChristianityToday.com
- Unlimited access to 65+ years of CT’s online archives
- Member-only special issues
- Learn more
More from this Issue
Read These Next
- TrendingAmerican Christians Should Stand with Israel under AttackWhile we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
- From the MagazineShould the Bible Sound Like the Language in the Streets?Controversy over Bibles in Jamaica, the Philippines, and Germany reveal the divide between the sacred and the relatable.
- Editor's PickShoes Stay On for Maundy ThursdayFew Protestant traditions continue the footwashing that Jesus did at the Last Supper. Some want a revival of the practice.