Re-Raveling

 Photo and Words shared from Facebook: This drawing is by Anja Rozen, a 13 year old primary school student in Slovenia. She was chosen from 600,000 children around the world to create a piece of art to show what peace looks like. She is the winner of  the international Plakat Miru competition. “My drawing represents the land that binds us and unites us.” Humans are woven together. If someone gives up, others fall. We are all connected to our planet and to each other, but unfortunately we are little aware of it. We are woven together. Other people weave alongside me my own story; and I weave theirs,” said the young designer

I like to think of this as God weaving the world.  Or perhaps, God is beyond the hands of the earth in the image.  The world and the people an integral part of the Oneness.  One people.  

We’re busy not realizing how important we are, and everyone is, to the web.  We begin to let ourselves unravel.  We begin to let those around us unravel.  

We forget that we matter.  

We forget that we ALL matter.  

We all get lost and forgetful, overwhelmed and unraveled.  There are stories and words that really help us to be who we want to be in this world.  They anchor us to the bigger work that God/Grace/Divine/Universe asks of us.  They help us to remember and re-ravel ourselves and others into the Whole. A few favorites are:

1. Love thy neighbor as thyself.  
2. We are all created in the image of God.  

No matter how simple we think they are, they aren’t, and they certainly aren’t easy.  And it’s beautiful that you will find both of these in all of our faiths in one form or another:

1. Treat people how you want to be treated.  
2. We are all part of the divine spark, divine breath, divine word, divine image, divine light, etc.

These are Universal concepts.  So easy. So beautiful.  So re-raveling in an unraveled world.  We’re all in this together.  

And yet.  It’s so HARD.  

Love thy neighbor as thyself first asks of us to love ourselves.  

Most of us have times when we’re really good at not being nice to ourselves.  We notice our imperfections.  We highlight our failures.  We are filled with guilt and shame.  We’re good at this all by ourselves.  We don’t need help or finger pointing.  Instead, we need to encourage one another, to love one another, to guide and help one another.  To point out the Good.  To point out where we’re doing well…

To listen to one another fully and to offer kindness.  Always. 

We know we’re not doing well when there are “exceptions” to love thy neighbor.  Usually people we don’t like. People we fear.  People who believe differently than us.  Like…the tax collector, the dirty poor guy, the leper, the prostitute, the thief, the murderer, the drunkard, the greedy rich guy….PAUSE.  We’ll probably be very surprised by who’s at Jesus’s Table. Being surprised is good for us.  It reminds us to consider why the unexpected are at the Table?  Why are the unexpected sitting at Jesus’ feet?  It’s because he welcomes everyone as his neighbor and reminds us to welcome in the uncomfortable.  It reminds us that while God can see fully into another’s soul….we cannot. 

Perhaps, this also includes ourselves.  We might not feel worthy and yet…we are.  We are worthy of God’s Love.  We can’t love our neighbor and hate ourselves.  We can’t hate ourselves and love our neighbors. Lack of love for ourselves is an unraveling.  Lack of love for other is an unraveling. It all begins to fall apart.  

This unraveling happens when we lose sight of the person in the acts.  People do terrible, terrible things. They are still our neighbor.  We don’t have to invite them to dinner, but we do have to be just and kind.  People do so much intentional, and unintentional, harm to self and others. They are still our neighbors.  People try to drag us down with them.  People think differently and confuse us. People see differently and we struggle to understand.  Those are still our neighbors.  

We unravel when we forget that we are all in this together.  We tear the fabric when we separate ourselves from one another and when we push others out.  When we decide: this person is worthy and this person is not.  PAUSE.  This person deserves good things.  This person does not.  

We become a part of division,  hate, and tears.  When we don’t love ourselves and when we don’t love others. When we see others as unworthy.  Or when we see ourselves as unworthy.  

Remembering that we all are part of the divine story and born of a divine breath, spark, light means that we are all people of Grace.  Where is it when we can’t see it?  In ourselves and others?  What’s happened?  

The unraveling has let us fall into the dirt or the mud.  Perhaps we’ve hidden the spark behind tar and dark paint.  But it’s there.  Our work is to shine it up. To seek it out.  To clean it up.  To bring it out in one another.  To remind us all that we’re never alone.  

Our work is to re-ravel by believing in one another.  

Our work is to hold up mirrors to one another that we are loved and worthy.  

Our work is to find our common humanity…the spark of grace.  

Maybe, especially with the neighbors (and in our self) we are most uncomfortable with.  Maybe most especially in the things within ourselves we are most uncomfortable with.  Usually those are the people who need us the most.  Those are the times we need grace the most.  

Loving God means trusting the divine all around us. In the blooming of a flowing, the gentle fall of rain, and that irritating neighbor.  Trusting God means we trust that we are all worthy of God’s Love.  

Love for self and love for one another is a love for God.  This is true love.  

One person unravels and the whole story stumbles.  The unraveling needs to be fixed. One stitch at a time.  That takes a pause.  A reflection.  A moment to see where the unraveling begins.  A moment to see where the unraveled pieces might be stitched back in and back together.  This is our work.  The work of truest love.    

Pause to notice where you might tether an unraveling.  

Start with loving yourself as God loves you.  

Then love your neighbor as God loves you.  

Remember the single lights shine brighter when brought together.  

Take time to do the small work of re-raveling for God.  

Love yourself. Love your neighbor.  Notice the divinity within each soul you meet. Love God enough to trust that everyone, including ourselves, in a necessary piece in God’s Tapestry.  Our work is to help and to pause long enough to re-weave and re-ravel God’s heaven on earth.