Dear Friends,
A few years ago, I tried to knit. Never having tried it before I asked my friend who owned a wool shop to help. Neither she nor I had high expectations in my ability, so she started me off with the task of knitting a scarf!
I have a stubborn streak and I was determined to do well. Every spare moment I would pick up my knitting needles and slowly and carefully add a line or two to the ever- growing garment. As I gained in confidence, I tried new stiches.
You and I both know what a scarf should look like. There is no real pattern to follow. Knit one, purl one and so on. I knew what to do and if I concentrated things went well. If I were watching television and was distracted, I would add or drop a stich here or there… If I were feeling uptight or relaxed this too was reflected in the tautness of the stiches. This all added to the character of my work. The said scarf grew and as it did, so it seemed to take on a life of its own. I was reluctant to ask for help, after all it was a scarf! If we’re honest it was a misshapen, uneven, somewhat holey but I was proud of my knitting.
The past year reminded me of my one and only attempt at knitting. I can see parallels between my faith in 2020 and that ‘scarf’. 2020 started off well and gradually began to go awry somewhat. At times throughout the year, I felt uptight and distracted and at other times relaxed and productive before losing momentum and feeling as though things could begin to unravel.
I expect this has been the experience for others too. If we take the scarf as an analogy for faith. It is comforting to know that however misshapen things appear , however many holes and lose ends and disguised knots are lurking, and trust me there were many, the scarf didn’t become of no use. However peculiar the scarf looked it could still be used for the purpose for which it was created. True there were holes but the stiches around them held the wool in place. It was ok it would not completely unravel.
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