The Weaver by Benjamin Malacia Franklin
My life is just a weaving
Between my Lord and me.
I cannot change the color
For He works most steadily.
Oft times He weaves the sorrow
And I in foolish pride;
Forget He sees the upper
And I, the underside.
Until the loom is silent
And the shuttle cease to fly,
Will God roll back the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the skillful Weaver’s Hand
As the golden threads of silver
He has patterned in His Plan.
Reflections on The Weaver:
I am God’s work of art. Every moment of every day my God weaves a beautiful fabric of my life. It amazes me that no line of weaving is exactly the same. Each day is different, each passing day has its own shading and its own pattern, somehow fitting together in a larger pattern of days, months and seasons.
My God is certainly creative and generous. The threads of my life come in an abundance of textures and colors. Strands that I would never give a second thought to, things that I would never have chosen, suddenly are highlighted and come to the front to play boldly in front of my eyes. Sometimes I turn away from what is in front of me, I don’t want to see it.
Today God is weaving part of the story of the fact of my brokenness and grief. In this place, the weaving is dipped in the hues of dark and shadow. I see the thin threads, so frail that they are hard to handle. And there are the frayed threads, seeming to come apart with ugly slubs and knots everywhere. But especially among the most damaged threads, God patiently works and slowly and carefully twists the tiny fibers back together. God always takes the opportunity to create something new where there was a broken mess before.
And just there, I can see something new appearing. Threads radiant with light grow out of the nowhere of the shadows of my struggle and pain. It is lovely in its satin softness, glowing with forgiveness and grace. I reach for the beauty and try to hold onto it. But despite my wonder, God does not stop, and with God’s every stitch, with every loop, there is the ongoing invitation for me to let go, to stop pulling and unwinding what is being created, right now out of my life. To let the loving and understanding hands of the Weaver continue to gently move, and guide and create something beautiful.
For what I need most to remember today is that I am God’s work of art, constantly growing and changing and that God is not nearly finished with me yet.
Article in Rockford Squire Newspaper 5/25/2023.
