Slideshow image

The Repair Shop

 

TV reality shows can become very addictive. “The Repair Shop” has become a favourite in our home!

It is set and filmed in at the Weald and Downland Living Museum of Singleton, West Sussex, England, and features crafters from around the UK as they repair a variety of objects. Treasures are restored to new life—to the joy of owners—with the unique expertise offered by each crafter! 
    
I have discovered a book that features “The Repair Shop” as a backdrop! It is about reconciliation and written by theologian Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil. It is called ‘Empowered to Repair: Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities.’ 

One book reviewer writes:

“Political and cultural wars are tearing communities apart. Issues such as immigration, racism, and guns are driving wedges between people and hampering Christians' impact in the world.

In Empowered to Repair, Brenda Salter McNeil looks to the biblical story of Nehemiah for answers. There, she finds an action-based model for repairing and rebuilding our communities and transforming broken systems.

McNeil goes beyond theories, offering practical tools Christians need for organizing, empowering, and activating people to join in God's work of equality, reparations, and justice. She provides strategies to drive systemic changes that go beyond superficial diversity and teaches the skills needed to engage in this important work long-term, such as organizing people, leveraging resources, and avoiding burnout through rest, prayer, and self-care.”

If you watch The Repair Shop, you can witness the crafts people first reviewing the object to assess what needs to be done. Then they often outline the real, practical, step-by-step process of the work required to fix — to repair the object. 

Brenda Salter McNeil assesses the important work of reconciliation under 'a microscope lens',  looking at the work in the ideal of repairing. The reviews of her book call the reader to discover a theory of repair in the sense of reconciliation. 
    
With a glance at chapter titles, one will note how McNeil draws the reader to assess how to use the theory of repair in working with reconciliation. 
    
A starting point for this work is a study of the work of Nehemiah. The introduction to Nehemiah (The Life Application Bible) says we need people who will not only discuss a situation but will do something about it. 
    
Nehemiah is a true example of the theory of repair. He gave up a lucrative job in Persia to return to the fractured homeland of his ancestors and rallied the people to rebuild Jerusalem.
    
I encourage each of us to read Nehemiah this week.

Blessings,
Archdeacon Brian+ 

 

 

Image:
Office 365