THE CARPENTER

THE CARPENTER
By Mark D. McCallister

My heart felt like a house
In so much need of repair
Damaged by the weather of life
Falling apart everywhere

The walls were in need of new paint
The roof was starting to leak
The rain of sorrow dripped in
And it’s frame grew ever more weak

I didn’t know how long it would stand
I couldn’t keep up with repairs
I wept in it’s lonely hallway
As I sat on it’s broken stairs

Now, I heard a knock at the door
And I opened the door to see
A stranger, yet so familiar
Was kindly looking at me

Though I tried to hide them,
I know he acknowledged my tears
He said “I used to be a carpenter
And I heard you’re in need of repairs.

I let him into that broken place
Embarrassed by what he would find.
But he had my trust through leaks and rust
In this place that he redesigned

Now everything he did replace.
Every leak and crack diminished
And he held three nails in his hand
And said “With these it is finished.”

I could almost touch his kindness
His presence, I just embraced it
He took every broken thing that he found
And with his touch replaced it.

“Stable are the floors below you,” he said
“Solid is the roof above you,
I did this of my own free will,
I did this because I love you.”

As he was going, he left me these words,
“For now this place will do,
But when I return and you see me again,
I will have a new home for you.”