Learning to Sew
In his book “Embers – One Ojibway’s Meditations”, Richard Wagamese writes of a great teaching he learned about life from a Woman Elder.
My wife has First Nations Status with her roots in the Ojibway nation, she shared this with me.
When Wagamese asked this woman about the greatest teaching in life, she responded “You have to make your own moccasins.”
He responded, “You are kidding, right?”
She elaborated:
“You make them from the hide of your experience, all the places you have walked. You sew them with the thread of the teachings, the lessons embedded in all the hard miles. You stitch them carefully with the needle of your intention – to walk a spiritual path – and when you’re finished, you realize that the Creator lives in the stitches. That’s what helps you to walk more gracefully.”
Wagamese quietly responded, “I got busy learning how to sew.”
In a liminal space, there are two verses which I have found, hanging on a wall, as I journey through.
Romans 12: 2 Let God/the Holy Spirit change your way of thinking. CEV
Luke 14: 11 Be content to be simply yourself. MSG
St John of the Cross lived in the mid fifteen hundreds. He writes:
“When we let go of everything, we make room for God to work in our lives.”
This is when we find ourselves living into Romans 12:2 and truly learn to sew.
So… here are 3 stitches I am learning in my liminal sewing room.
There is a good tired (fatigue) and a hard tired.
I need to pay attention to which is which. There are times when I have given all in a session alongside of another and was tired, though remember thinking, this is a good tiredness.
Other times, I have been exhausted and felt totally drained and said, I cannot do that again.
Learn to know the difference my friends.
2. I never have been very good at saying No!
As we age, learning to say no and then experiencing using this small word, can be life giving. I can write these words, yet to practice them is so hard for me. Focusing on my capacity and what is sustainable helps.
It does link with my first point on what produces a good tiredness and what do I find draining.
3. I just finished reading a book on Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor. She writes:
“When light fades and darkness falls (as it does in our lives), God does not turn the world over to some other deity. Even when you cannot see where you are going and no one answers when you call, this is not sufficient proof that you are alone.”
As I look back on my life, I have learned new sewing lessons in the dark, which I could never have learned in the light. Yes, I need the darkness as much as I need the light.
What have you learned in those dark areas of your life?
Two questions to contemplate.
What thinking do you need the help of the Holy Spirit to change?
Being spiritually healthy is crucial and we long for it in the deepest part of our beings. To work towards this, you must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.
What are practical steps you need to take to do this, and it does begin with saying no.
Bruce
