What can a clothes rack teach us?

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine…                                         -Ephesians 2:20-21.

On most occasions we probably wouldn’t even notice them, they simply stand in the corner of our offices or workspaces.  Our coat racks are as convenient and unromantic as their neighbor, the water cooler.

Yet, when it snows or rains, our coat racks patiently hold out their hooks receiving our scarves, coats, gloves, umbrellas, and all other protective clothing needed during   inclement weather.

Long in service, short on looks, coat racks make up in good-will, care, and attentiveness what they usually lack in beauty.  Reflecting on their presence, makes me think of the potential greatness of each one of us, especially those who think God doesn’t see them or have a plan for them.

God has a plan for all of us.  Didn’t Jesus tell us through His preaching that His Father wants us to live life to the fullest?  Now, as we know, everyone’s fullness is different and has its own blossoming time.  Isn’t this precisely why we should never think that God forgets us or that others are greater merely because they seem to have so much, and we have so little?

Jesus comes to save us and help us be who we are and to be this person the best way we can.  When God promises to help, God always fulfills.  God has His own means and time frame which rarely matches ours.

But God always delivers what we need, because He wants us with Him forever in heaven.  The Christmas season stands as an annual witness to this truth.  God loves us all the same.

Every New Year offers opportunities for personal reflection.  We look back considering what went well and what went wrong.  At these times, our clothes racks can teach us a lesson.

It quietly stands witness, as proof, that we all have a purpose.  It may not be as glamorous a purpose as we might like, yet it shines through its service when needed. Just as when we recognize our purpose in the simplest way and serve others, God’s love blossoms!  

Unlike our clothes racks, St. Francis de Sales reminds us that God’s presence is best seen through others’ small deeds:

“Let us go forward to serve God with our whole heart and life.  Beyond that, let us have no care about tomorrow.”

(Painting: Sophie Walraven)