My fridge is often sundry collection of remnants. "A small quantity of something" "Leftovers, residue, tail end, scrap, fragment" "A small part or portion that remains after the main part no longer exists"
The English "remnant"comes from the French root "remanant" which means "to remain."
If I think of it this way it sounds like the remnants of past meals chose to remain in the fridge, when I actually chose for them to remain, until they meet their ultimate demise of being thrown out.
It seems outside influences determine if a remnant remains and for how long. Simple enough for my fridge. Not so simple for the wider world.
Biblically, God promises there will always be a remnant of those he pledged eternal love to so many centuries ago. These remnants continue to exist because God has never chosen to throw them out. God never will. It's an eternal non-negotiable.
But, looking at the condition of our world today it seems everyone believes that they, and only they, really know which remnants are still worth the cost of support, which ones should be thrown out, and which ones are truly rotten.
Both sides, every side, all sides are on very thin ice here. Unless we're in the deepest of daily prayer and communion with God we'd best not toss a remnant that could be a patch, could be a way through a tough time, could be a piece of sustenance.
Humanity continues on the shoulders of remnants who live out their invisible calling to be scraps of love, fragments of faith, and residues of fragrant forgiveness.
Amen.