Weaving as Metaphor for Life - My Life Anyway

The Woollen Mill

by Jean Earle (1909-2002)

What we are hangs upon that moment -

Which will come -

When the cross is taken in the warp

And the weave is certain.

On the drying - ground

Where the wet wools are hung to blow,

Scarlet, blue,

I was first aware of the pattern

To do with light …

Look back, from evening. A widespread day

Maddened yet skilled with light …

I suppose every turn of the earth

Is loom to someone's light.

A skein untangles

Out of wind and sun,

Lies in the ordered warp, patterning

Scarlet, blue -

The cross is taken.

* Woollen is not a typo – that was the poet's spelling

A copy of this poem was given to me by my spiritual director several years ago. I had been making noises about pulling my loom out and trying to weave again. About that same time I had quit a job and was beginning my struggle with what to do next with my life. A colleague said to me, “When you begin to weave what you want to weave you will know what you are supposed to do.” Hmm... I am beginning to feel confident enough in my weaving to choose my own colors, textures, structures – I am weaving what “I want to weave.” What does that mean in the rest of my life.

I started this blog on Wednesday morning because I was procrastinating. I really needed to be doing something else. For a week or so I had been thinking about using this poem in the blog. But how was I going to weave this poem into something meaningful. So on Wednesday morning, I typed out the poem and began to write - getting to the part where I said "What does that mean in the rest of my life."

And then I realized

a) I was doing what I was supposed to be doing - not procrastinating - I was putting my busy-ness into perspective - instead of journalling - I was blogging  - but it was all about getting centered in my own purpose as I move into 6 days of madness.

b) I am doing what I am supposed to be doing - back to what my colleague said - I am weaving all of the parts of my part life into one cloth. .... working (coordinating spiritual retreats), parenting, being a spouse, being a friend, being a spiritual director, being a board president, volunteering, weaving - no one part of my life is dominant, all are part of the greater pattern - the structure - my life.

Tomorrow I leave for Asheville to coordinate an Advent retreat. Advent a time of quiet waiting, anticipation, hopefulness. May I find a way to weave a bit of that for myself in this time away. May you find a way to weave it into your lives as well.

O come, O come Emmanuel be with us and in us this Advent season - help us to understand all that we are to be.

Be well,

Ann