Inspired by the weekly liturgical writings of Debi Thomas, I made a New Year's resolution of sorts to write each week reflecting on the readings in the Read Scripture app that we are doing together as Uptown Church. I love the Bible Project and was so excited to hear that we are doing this together. Reading the Bible as a people has always been God's intent - one of the many threads we see throughout the Word, but I am getting ahead of myself.
At the end of last year, my friend Angela posted a picture of her loom and a piece of cloth that she had woven. I have vague memories of my mom having a loom when I was very young and I definitely remember passing the shuttle back and forth and pressing the threads together. I didn't realize that this image was in the back of my mind while I was reading this week until I got to the story of Melchizedek. This verse stood out to me: "Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High" Genesis 14:18. When I saw the bread and wine reference, I wrote down in my journal, "so many threads to follow." Immediately, the picture of Angela's loom was in my mind and her comment of having to rethread the 300+ threads several times to get it right.
Is the world God's great loom? or is time the great framework? This made me stop and think of all the threads that are already started in the first 18 chapters of Genesis:- covenant
- belief/trust in God
- good and evil
- barren women/birth/seed
- trees
- offering/altars/sacrifice
- stories with women main characters
I watched a lot of weaving videos and they were all so beautiful and breathtaking. The attention to detail. The breadth of the set up and preparation. Mostly replaced by machines these days, but still so many made by hand - all over the world! The one machine that especially caught my attention was the Jacquard loom - probably because of my love of mathematics and order but also because of the nature of the process. Watch here for a short explanation.
I am hoping to write a poem each week as well, but I am not going to force it. This is one that I wrote in the wee hours of the morning today as I prayed and reflected on the many threads we are invited to follow.
The Master Weaver
a reflection on Genesis 1 - 18
the framework was bare
the Master Weaver assembled the loom
tying countless strings
blocking the pattern
preparing the cards
then, when all was in it's proper place,
the machinery lurched into action
strings going every which way
the slap of the beater
the motion of the treadles
the shuttle passes through
back and forth
each pass creating a new measure of fabric
threads combining
being forced together
this seemingly chaotic concomitance of chords
making order out of the tangled webs
the weft. the warp.
passing through the proper threads
at the proper time
this intelligent design
counterweights from above
working in concert with the countless threads
to make a single cloth
the fabric lengthens
until the time when
the pattern is complete
the final card is read
the final row is secured
the fabric is ready to be cut loose
all the loose ends tied
the rough edges made plain
ready to be placed
on the banquet table
