Mend

Today’s #AdventWord is #Mend

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We live in a disposable society, where products are manufactured with ‘built-in obsolescence’, designed to be cheaper to replace than to repair. This has had an impact not only on our planet but also on our relationships: if a friend or relative upsets you, cut them off—there are plenty of other people to be with instead.

But all relationships endure wear-and-tear, and need attending to, so to mend the world.

One of my greatest joys is helping couples renew their marriage vows. Though this can be done as the outward symbol after breakdown and reconciliation, in my experience it is more usually undertaken in recognition of all the relationship has made possible, and in preparation for all that is to come. An attentive mending, to last; rather than a major repair, to fix. For a couple celebrating fifty or sixty years of marriage, what lies ahead includes aging and dying; the renewing of vows marking the intent not only to set out well, all those years ago, but now to arrive well.

We are in danger of losing the skills it takes to mend. But it is not too late to learn.