Dear friends,
On the last Sunday of the year at our potluck brunch worship service, we heard a story about the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt and a spider web that saved the young child, Jesus, hiding in cave from the wrath of King Herod’s soldiers. A community of tiny spiders wove a beautiful web across the entrance to the cave, thinking this was the only gift they could give the child. Little did they know that when the soldiers came looking for Jesus, they only saw the web covering the mouth of the cave and left, assuming that no one could have entered there.
“…The smallest of the smallest creatures instigated something that made a huge difference. The smallest one among the smallest ones took action when the others assumed that nothing could be done. By their weaving together, the spiders brought about a miracle,” ends the story of “The Spider’s Web.”
Those who were listening that morning then took a big ball of yarn and tossed it back and forth as each shared about an important moment at Church from the past year. Keeping hold of the yarn while tossing the ball to someone else, slowly a pattern emerged among us. In the end, we had created a beautiful web of stories and connections.
Like the spider’s web in the story, weaving ties to one another is a beautiful thing. When we are truly connected to another person, they become a part of us, we get to know the person and can see through their eyes and take a part of their experience on as our own. It’s a relationship that does not end.
In the short time I’ve been part of Edwards Church, I’ve experienced so many moments when this faith community reaches out to one another and to the world. Like the spiders, by our weaving of those loving connections, we, too, are keeping the Christ child alive.
As we begin this new year of ministry together, take a moment to reflect on your own experiences of being woven together within and with others in community here at Edwards Church. What important moments of caring and connection would you add to the beautiful web we weave?
It’s an amazing thing we are doing, and I pray that God continues to use each and every one of us to spin the webs of justice, compassion and love. Let’s make sure we continue to weave others into our lives and by our weaving, let us show forth the love of God to the world. The world that won’t understand it – but needs it so very much.
Blessings,
Karen Nell