On Monday morning, my husband and I went out to breakfast, as is our habit. We went to a sort of healthy eating breakfast place, where I could have pumpkin pancakes and he could have oatmeal with all sorts of extras. I brought along a pair of footies I am working on right now. I'm almost to the toe on the second one, happily knitting along in a circle. I've got this beautiful variegated yarn that I'm working with; it must have been visible from the little green bag on my arm.
The woman who seated us stopped over at our table a little while later. "What are you working on?" she asked. I pulled out the sock I was working on, then the other, finished one. She admired them. I asked if she knitted, and she said that she did. "But I can't read a pattern," she said. "I can't imagine NOT using a pattern," I admitted. I had to admit that I admired her creativity.
"What do you make?" I asked her. "Mostly baby blankets and scarves," she answered.
"That's really beautiful yarn," she offered. "Where did you get it?"
I told her the name of the yarn store where I do most of my shopping, where I not only purchase yarn but also go to get knitting help and advice. I told her about how much they have helped me in the past couple of years.
A little later, I felt like I had been a sort of "Knitting Evangelist", inviting her to my Church, showing her the patterns that are meaningful to me, while not judging her ability to make beautiful things without one.
And I thought, if only it was this easy: to speak to one another about our faith, about the patterns of our lives, about how worship makes meaning, about the songs and the prayers and the people who walk with us and hold us up when we fall down. If only it was as easy as holding up a sock, showing off the beautiful yarn, noticing another person's scarf, and sharing the patterns, and who made the yarn.
If only it was this easy.
3 comments:
Amen.
I wonder if part of what makes it hard is just the fear-- I'm afraid I'll make someone uncomfortable by telling my stories, when maybe the truth is that they'd like to hear my yard.
(Couldn't resist.)
Great analogy. I think we must learn the fear. It does help to attend a Bible study discussion group (as opposed to a group when you just listen to a teacher) so that one gets used to praying and speaking about beliefs.
But we do somehow incorporate this fear, at least in our tradition, because certainly those at the church down the street from my church have learned to speak freely and openly about their faith. And in fact, some of them judge us as not having faith because we don't know how to speak of it.
While it is most important to live that faith, to do the acts of faith and obedience to Jesus, we are also commanded to "give an answer" when we are called upon to do so. I hope you are not seeing works righteousness in my statement, because I don't mean that. Rather, I mean deeds as a response to what we learn from our Lord.
I like the idea of you being an evangelist for knitting! (It probably helps to live in a colder climate.) That is an excellent analogy to evangelizing, which I'd rather do by my example than by words.
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