The Unwanted Reject

At Men’s Shed we were reflecting on life in the 1950’s and 1960’s…

…A number of the gents didn’t get on very well at school… Martin vividly described his Mum being called in to see his junior school Headmaster, who said that Martin was useless. He wasn’t even good enough to be a road-sweeper; if he did become a road-sweeper he’d lose his broom! From that low point Martin’s schooling went downhill…

Martin felt like an unwanted reject…

…We remembered buying things ‘on tick’ from the local store… items written in a book and our Mum’s settling up at the end of the week.  We recalled some of the things we could buy then that aren’t on sale now… sweets, comics, our first ‘records’… and broken biscuits. Mike remembered buying them from Woolworths… We got ours from our local ‘Skeltons’…

Broken biscuits were rejected by some – but certainly wanted by young boys!

I visited a local care home. They had ‘entertainment’… Karen was singing old songs to backing tracks… I joined residents and carers listening, sometimes singing along… John Denver, The Beatles, Cliff Richard, Elvis…

Karen handed resident-Geoff the microphone… despite his age and disability he sung the Elvis songs beautifully, tunefully, word-perfect… Can’t Help Falling In Love… Love Me Tender… Return to Sender…

Return to sender, address unknown
No such number, no such zone
We had a quarrel, a lover’s spat
I write I’m sorry, but my letter keeps coming back…

The unwanted rejected letter… unwanted rejected love…

This morning I read Isaiah 53…

‘He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.’

The suffering servant… man of sorrows… hated outcast… unwanted reject…

Musing… Martin being accused of uselessness… Mike’s fragile broken biscuits… Geoff’s/Elvis’ rejected love… my times of feeing unwanted or rejected… and the Suffering Servant who’s been unwanted and rejected himself.