Friday 16 February 2007

Today we reflect on my favorite verses of this psalm . . .

(13) For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. (14) I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. (15) My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. (16) Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.

From time to time, we joke with each other by saying that God broke the mold when one person or another was made. But we aren't carbon copies of each other cranked out of some mold God has. Instead, God has knit each of us together in our mother's wombs. God knit each one of us before the world even knew us, knew who we are and what we will become. Knitting is a very personal thing. Each length of yarn is fed through the knitter's hands, and every part of us comes through the hands of God. Imagine God knowing what will become of us like knitters know what they are making. Each loop and knot has a place. It is true that not every length of yarn, not every attribute we possess, is perfect. However, the weak stitches, the off-color yarn, and the slight variations in pattern are as much a part of us and hold us together as do the wonderful parts. Remove one stitch, and the whole thing can come unraveled. We would not be who we are without both the wonderful and not-so-wonderful parts. But despite our imperfections, we still serve the purposes for which we were created. Some even say that imperfections are the hallmark of genuine created work. What wonderful works we are.

Connection: Imagine yourself being knitted together by God. What are some of the stitches that were used to put you together? How do each of those stitches affect what God envisioned you would become and would do?

Masterful Creator, thank you for knitting me together. Reveal to me what you so purposefully envisioned for my life, so that the beauty and function of your work might be known to all who see me. When strained by my weaknesses, hold me together that I do not become unraveled. Amen.