As a child, I, firsthand, experienced the excitement of “The Box” being introduced into family homes — including mine! “The Box” was the name my Nani assigned the newfound invention most called a television. In those early days, static and screens going blank were a part of your broadcast experience. Breakdowns were a common occurrence, as technical advancement was primal. I’ll add that the most respected and busy occupation was TV repairman.
When “The Box” wasn’t operating well, most households regularly called the TV repairman, who routinely started his service by taking the back off the television and followed by removing the tubes and testing their working status. After replacing any malfunctions, the back of the television was reassembled and, once more, “The Box” was in working order. My Nani, however, was not under the label of “most households”.
When Nani’s “Box” became a mess of static and blank screen, he didn’t call a repairman. He got up from his comfy chair, walked over to “The Box” and gave it a good, strong kick. Occasionally, it took a couple of kicks; but eventually “The Box” produced somewhat of a picture and a faintly decipherable sound. Proudly, Nani would return to his chair. He was the only one in the room who thought the problem was solved. We all knew that within minutes he’d be kicking “The Box” again.
Why, you must be wondering, am I sharing this story. My reply stems from the wisdom that in order to fix something, you have to first dismantle or take it apart. Otherwise, it is just a temporary band-aid. The TV repairman fixed the television. Nani’s ritual was a temporary band-aid. For the moment, it jiggled back somewhat of a picture; but it fixed nothing long term. The same holds true for our sinful nature. In order to fix our faults or remove sin from “The Box” of our lives, we need to do the task of taking our being’s outer cover off and repairing our inner selves. We need to fix what is wrong on the inside to clearly be the picture of who (and whose) God created us to reflect. If we choose a band-aid over a fix, we only hide our flaws, and nothing is repaired.
Without question, it should be understood that it takes inner work and re-wiring our ways to correct our imperfections. We are not left on our own to figure out the instructions needed for this. The “how to” manual for inner work and re-wiring is God’s Word. This book of repair instructions should always be, at most, only fingertips away.
One final note — the recollection of Nani kicking “The Box” brings laughter to my heart. The memory of Nani’s kicks never fixing “The Box” delivers wisdom to my soul.
Uplifted in a Broken Down World 