Once upon a time, I went to watch my son Silas play lacrosse.
Afterwards, as I stopped to put on a jumper, I took off my glasses and put them on the roof of the car.
Now driving is pretty much the only thing I can do without glasses.
So, I drove.
I remembered, of course, just as I arrived home.
In the ensuing panic (and panic did ensue), I drove back, cursing with all the rich force of my ancient forebears. But my specs were gone.
Thing is, I need my glasses. But more to the point I liked those frames, and so when I lost them, I lost it.
I was, to put it mildly, invested in the object.
Working in a museum, I am surrounded by objects in which there has been a weirdly huge investment, no matter whether they’re a broken pot or a huge gold cup.
Sometimes they’re important because of what they’re made of – the huge gold cup really is a lot of gold. But more often, they’re important because of the people they speak of, the humanity they embody. We cling to the precious belongings of forgotten families, the gifts of forgotten lovers, the pictures of forgotten friends.
One of the strange things about Jesus is that he left nothing behind. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is just a tale. There is no Grail, no record of things Jesus owned, or even of him owning things at all.
Instead, the record of his life is entirely human.
He loved, he wept, he got angry, he told stories. He gave time to his friends, he fed people he’d never met. He made them feel worthwhile. He made them feel more important than things.
This last year, we’ve not been short of things. The worldwide cardboard shortage tells us how many things we’ve been buying.
But somehow we all know that those things are less than what we’ve been denied; the smiles, the clasped hands, the hugs, the kisses, the shared meals and cups of tea.
I reckon it’s good to have been reminded that these are the things we need, to remember that we are such stuff as dreams are made on: us, our lives and loves, our joys and sorrows. Everything else is just a Museum.
And it’s not really my glasses I need to see that that is really important.
Nowadays, I need my glasses to drive as well.