Fractions

"O Jehovah God, save your people, the remnant of Israel," Jeremiah 31:7.

When all was lost, when all were scattered, when no one was left, when it seemed God finally forgot us all - God, in fact, was collecting all the leftovers that nobody wanted. Useless remnants. The remainders. (Remember the left over numbers in long division that nobody knew what to do with except to turn them into even more troublesome fractions?) God, in fact, said: I will make whole all the remainders from the most strung out corners of earth. God, in fact, said: I will include the blind, the lame, the pregnant women, yes, women in the throws of labor - people considered useless for the tasks ahead ... God, in fact, said: I will ease their way home, I will refresh them along the way. God, in fact, said: Sing glad, out loud! God remembers all the remnants. God restores.

As we meet with a brother or sister today, we affirm with each other God's phenomenal purpose to restore a people for himself. And, together, we give thanks for his son, Jesus, guarantor and collector of all God's remnants.