Tapestry -- Weaving The Many Colors Of Love
Self Help
What's A Mother/Father To Do?
Parenting For The New Millennium
Life is like a tapestry, intricate and varied in pattern and design, woven in many colors of love, attempting to make rhyme and reason out of all the strands of experience which come in upon our lives in almost infinite number.
Who can count them, these fibers of sensation, these impulses and instincts, these flashes of insight and abstraction, these visions which float through our heads, inspirations which flood our hearts with ecstasy and joy? And we sit at the loom of life, making our way, shaping the warp and woof, integrating all these colors of emotion, these shades and hues of human wondering.
In the hospital the other day, a lady told me she was weaving a rug for her family. "It's a long one," she said, "and it may surprise them. I'm doing it for therapy but it's a gift for them -- my rug, my humble tapestry."
That's what we all are doing, is it not? Weaving our tapestries, making sense out of life, gaining therapy from the lasting patterns of beauty we make, and then giving them as a gift to those we love. Tapestries -- weaving the many colors of love.
If we are to weave the many colors of love of passion pink, envy green, sorrow blue, anger black, love red, we find no better pattern than Paul's famous love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. If we were to seek a set of principles for making sense out of life, we hardly could surpass this favorite passage on love where Paul's writing soars to its highest. The love of which Paul speaks has many components, many strands which need to be woven into the tapestry of life.
I.
There is, of course, the kind of "love" which is selfish in nature, a kind of love which masquerades as generosity, but really has one's own ego at heart.
That sort of "love" even permeated the early church. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or clanging symbol." There were those in the early church who were eloquent, who knew all the right words, who talked a big game and sounded impressive, but who lacked love. They knew the language of the faith, but when it came right down to it, they really cared for no one but themselves.
That phenomenon is still very much inside the church and out. How many men and women have talked a big game about caring for each other, but in fact seek only pleasure from the other? How many young girls have thought boys cared about them as persons, only later to discover they were cared about only as outlets for passion? How many lonely souls have been deluded by words smoother than butter, but hearts full of deceit? This is one strand of "love" (so-called) we will do well to de-emphasize in our tapestry.
Paul goes on: "And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." Many of us have come across the zealous intellectual. How many times have we been awed by writers and teachers who have impressed us with their vast store of knowledge, their erudition and comprehension of vast numbers of facts? And yet how many times have we been put off by their cool sophistication, their distant demeanor, their intent to use their knowledge to form a defensive elite rather than a generous leadership?
Knowledge without love, information without concern, education without constructive caring -- what a sad kind of tapestry, and yet how prevalent in many parts of our life. No wonder we sometimes develop an anti-intellectual mood. We often rightly surmise the intellectuals are not really interested in helping others, but concerned only to build their own reputations. Many use their knowledge not to serve humankind, but to build a tighter and tighter elitist circle of snobs. That will not do for the tapestry of the Christian life, says Paul.
Paul also suggests that faith without love is unsatisfactory. How many times have we come up against the ardent believer, the religious or rationalist dogmatist, who was determined to impose his or her views upon us in the name of love? It soon becomes apparent such people care little for us, but only for themselves. They wish only to win their argument, to chalk up another victory for their side. From time to time people in that frame of mind tell me they will pray for me, by which they mean, they fully expect God will work on me to see how right they are and how wrong I am.
Faith? Yes, I guess they have it. But love? Well, I don't know. Love tries not only to state its own views, it tries to understand the other's point of view. Many scientific rationalists and religious dogmatists can tell you in no uncertain terms what they believe, but they would have difficulty relating with any depth someone else's position. Faith in our tapestry? Yes, but colored and caressed by love.
Paul goes on: "If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." Not many Christians today are lining up to be martyred. Few of us would sell all we have, as did some early Christians, and give it to the church. Nor would we sell ourselves into slavery to secure the freedom of a slave, as did other early Christians.
But many of us do give our bodies to be burned not at the stake of martyrdom, but at the shrine of success. Many men claim they would rather burn out than rust out, and they succeed in doing so at an early age. If you ask them why they are working such long hours, driving themselves so hard, many would say they are doing it for their wives and children. But if the truth were known, many are doing it for their own sakes to the neglect of their families.
Many men (and women, too) have come to think of love as success and success as love. How can they love their families? By being successful and then by showering their families with material things, calling it love. And how many women and children have been bought off by that kind of thinking?
Let us not misunderstand. We are not knocking success. We are not criticizing ambitious, talented, high-achievers. Far from it. We are not saying it is wrong to shower loved ones with gifts of material things. We are not saying that.
What we are saying is that we can burn ourselves out for material success and have no real love for anyone, even our own family. In their own way, mothers can do the same, burning themselves out on a hundred good causes without any real concern for the people. It is possible to be concerned about children and education in general and neglect the love and education of our own children in particular. Bodies burning themselves out everywhere, but perhaps too frequently without the love of which Paul speaks.
Tapestries of knowledge without compassion, faith without openness, charity without concern, ambition and self-sacrifice without genuine love for the other -- tapestries of these kind have a way of unraveling, of sagging, and of disintegrating.
II.
Paul speaks of a better way -- the way of Christian love. Remember that he uses that special Greek work for love agape. Agape love is unselfish. Like an artesian well it arises out of the depths of a heart that has willed to love even in the worst of times. This is love which exists not only in times of pleasure but also in times of pain. This is the love with which God loves us. And what a tapestry the strands of this kind of love create.
Note the first strand. "Love is patient and kind," says Paul. We live in an age of stress. These are hard times to be patient. Our nerves are on edge. So many of us are full speed ahead in career and social pursuits we barely tolerate the slightest detour, the most insignificant roadblock. We blow up at the slightest provocation. Irritable and touchy, we are quick with insult and slander.
And the reason is obvious. We are hell-bent in the pursuit of our own goals. Many of us give far too little thought to the feelings and concerns of others. Change that, says Paul. Weave into your tapestry that warm color of kindness and patience and see what a difference it will make.
"Love is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude," continues Paul. Contrast this wisdom of the centuries with the two-bit advice now promulgated in books which suggest winning by intimidation and by cheap tricks of manipulation. How can people really believe and accept the kind of advice for personal relationships which would tear apart every professional firm and business, not to mention families, schools, and churches?
We seem to have a culture which speaks out of both sides of its mouth at the same time. On the one side, it encourages communication, understanding, listening, and adaptability. But on the other side, it recommends intimidation, manipulation, exploitation, one-upmanship, and the brutal putdown. On the one side, it lauds the beauty of humanity, exclaims with apparent sincerity that humankind is essentially reasonable and good, that everyone wants to do what is right. But on the other side of the mouth, we hear no one can be trusted, that most people are out to get you, that it's dog eat dog, a rat race, a jungle. No wonder the fabric of our life gets torn farther and farther apart. We have no center thread weaving it together.
How beautiful to see people sincerely compliment one another and think of the other's career rather than their own. At the next party you attend, ask yourself if you always are talking about your career, your children, your achievements, your problems, or if you are inquiring about another person's life, showing a genuine interest in his concerns. What a glow our life-tapestry takes on when we begin to show appreciation for another's life, rather than always having to speak of our own.
"Love does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right." The spoiled child always insists the rest of the world march to his drumbeat. The mature Christian listens to the ideas and dreams and goals of others. If everyone in the family or church or school or business insists on his or her own way, there will be no tapestry -- only fragments and frazzled strands lying about in disarray. Love is a listening love, a considerate love, a mature love -- color it warm.
"Love is not irritable or resentful." Some people are meticulous bookkeepers when it comes to keeping track of wrongs. Many people are tight little bundles of grudges and resentments, all tied up in legalistic knots of keeping score and waiting for the chance of retaliation. Obviously no life will be a tapestry with that sort of negative tension at work. But let the powerful forces of forgiveness and grace and largeness of heart begin to do their work, and you have a different fabric of life altogether. Our miserly souls begin to expand when we forgive and allow forgiveness to flow out into the distant fulfilling strands of our tapestry. Resentment boxes us into a tighter and tighter corner where we feel at home in no church or school or club or group anymore. Soon there is just me and thee, and then I am not too sure about thee.
Some people "rejoice in wrong." They love malicious slander and delight in juicy morsels of negative gossip. They always are glad when the worst happens to other people. They are happy to pull others down and deeply dislike success by others. In their own deficiency and weakness, they cannot bear to have others strong and successful. They live in the negative rather than the positive. Unable to accept themselves, they resent the happiness and balanced adjustment of others. But love rejoices in the right. It is glad to see victory. It lives in the positive. It pulls together and is glad to see the beautiful contributions of others in life's tapestry. The soloist must always remember he would not sound nearly so beautiful without the rest of the orchestra.
"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." If it were not for love, how could mothers bear as much as they do? Day after day the demands of children and husband, church, school, and community bear down upon these talented, intelligent women who give so generously of energy and time. Many of them give day after day in unsung, unheralded ways, bearing the burden of weaving a tapestry whole and entire. How many burdens and sorrows they often bear in their own hearts because they love. It is people who bear all things with love who save the day for the world.
"Love believes all things." Moffatt's translation says, "Love is always eager to believe the best." Contrast that with the mood which always is eager to believe the worst. It is a trying time to be a public leader. Many leaders have indeed earned our distrust, but now we seem ready to believe the worst about everybody. Through misinformation or half-truths, we quickly assassinate character and expect the worst to happen. Love maintains hope. It lasts and lasts. It is not flighty or flippant, but hangs in there to hold the tapestry together. Love lasts forever and so does the tapestry woven with its many colors.
III.
We look for love in a thousand eyes
and ten thousand moments of ten thousand nights.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of love,
around the corner, to the city.
And yet we're blue and black
A many-colored love,
a love colored over and over
with kindergarten splashes
and urges
and no design
and no art.
Where do we go from here?
"Jesus, Joy of man's desiring
Holy wisdom, love most bright,
drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring,
Soar to uncreated light."
We have our loves,
they come and go.
Desire fires our action,
craving need our soul's seeking,
But, Jesus, you are the joy of all our desiring,
the deepest wisdom for our wondering hearts,
the faithful lover of our being.
Drawn by Thee our souls soar beyond the distant sky.
Our hearts leap out to the glowing color-caressing wind;
We fly in freedom with all God's winged creatures,
And we see the trees and the cross and Jesus there.
Ah, were there ever an act of loving, he was it.
Jesus broke the death barrier with love,
He affirmed forever that life and love
are stronger than death
And we sing Jesus, Joy of man's desiring.
Not frothy happiness maybe, not giggly-girl joviality,
not an athlete's backslapping,
nor even good-naturedness,
But joy, deep and abiding,
A victory of the soul.
The many colors of love
passion pink
envy green
sorrow blue
anger black
love red.
-- Maurice A. Fetty
Life is a tapestry, intricate and varied in pattern and design, woven in many colors of love and wonderful to behold.
Prayer
We look out across your lakes, across your resplendent hills, to the infinite sky, and we are drawn to awe and praise, O God. How wonderfully the world is made. How magnificently pleasing it is -- subtle fragrances, birdsongs which never tire, fresh winds to clear the air and mind, lush colors infinite in variety and contrast, and we behold them all. There are soft things to touch, and to taste we have foods and spices beyond count. How ever could we cease to praise you, Lord, for this exhilaration of sensate life, life alive and aware, receiving into itself, splendor and glory beyond description?
When we look out across the world of our own history, we are conscious of the mixed bag of love and hate, peace and war, positive and negative. We reach out and receive into ourselves hundreds of people. We build our bridges and tear them down. We confess the world of our making is not as regular and faithful as your world of nature, O God. In our freedom, we create questionable mixtures and bring into being patterns and structures which work to our detriment rather than our upbuilding.
We come not only thanking you for freedom. We come seeking your help in the use of the liberty we have. Like fledgling architects with raw materials and tentative designs in our hands, we search for the touch of your genius to make it right. Or like artists with canvas and colors and beginning sketches, we seek the guidance of your master eye and touch. But, of course, many of us are more than beginners. We've constructed lives which resemble "gerry built" mountain cabins. Or we've painted the canvas of our life in distorted colors and images. Or the fabric of our life is frayed and torn, misshapen and faded.
O Gentle Repairer of all broken spirits and contrite hearts, mend the wounds and fractures of our lives. Make us whole and strong and balanced. And may our life canvas be radiant with the many colors of love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Who can count them, these fibers of sensation, these impulses and instincts, these flashes of insight and abstraction, these visions which float through our heads, inspirations which flood our hearts with ecstasy and joy? And we sit at the loom of life, making our way, shaping the warp and woof, integrating all these colors of emotion, these shades and hues of human wondering.
In the hospital the other day, a lady told me she was weaving a rug for her family. "It's a long one," she said, "and it may surprise them. I'm doing it for therapy but it's a gift for them -- my rug, my humble tapestry."
That's what we all are doing, is it not? Weaving our tapestries, making sense out of life, gaining therapy from the lasting patterns of beauty we make, and then giving them as a gift to those we love. Tapestries -- weaving the many colors of love.
If we are to weave the many colors of love of passion pink, envy green, sorrow blue, anger black, love red, we find no better pattern than Paul's famous love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. If we were to seek a set of principles for making sense out of life, we hardly could surpass this favorite passage on love where Paul's writing soars to its highest. The love of which Paul speaks has many components, many strands which need to be woven into the tapestry of life.
I.
There is, of course, the kind of "love" which is selfish in nature, a kind of love which masquerades as generosity, but really has one's own ego at heart.
That sort of "love" even permeated the early church. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or clanging symbol." There were those in the early church who were eloquent, who knew all the right words, who talked a big game and sounded impressive, but who lacked love. They knew the language of the faith, but when it came right down to it, they really cared for no one but themselves.
That phenomenon is still very much inside the church and out. How many men and women have talked a big game about caring for each other, but in fact seek only pleasure from the other? How many young girls have thought boys cared about them as persons, only later to discover they were cared about only as outlets for passion? How many lonely souls have been deluded by words smoother than butter, but hearts full of deceit? This is one strand of "love" (so-called) we will do well to de-emphasize in our tapestry.
Paul goes on: "And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." Many of us have come across the zealous intellectual. How many times have we been awed by writers and teachers who have impressed us with their vast store of knowledge, their erudition and comprehension of vast numbers of facts? And yet how many times have we been put off by their cool sophistication, their distant demeanor, their intent to use their knowledge to form a defensive elite rather than a generous leadership?
Knowledge without love, information without concern, education without constructive caring -- what a sad kind of tapestry, and yet how prevalent in many parts of our life. No wonder we sometimes develop an anti-intellectual mood. We often rightly surmise the intellectuals are not really interested in helping others, but concerned only to build their own reputations. Many use their knowledge not to serve humankind, but to build a tighter and tighter elitist circle of snobs. That will not do for the tapestry of the Christian life, says Paul.
Paul also suggests that faith without love is unsatisfactory. How many times have we come up against the ardent believer, the religious or rationalist dogmatist, who was determined to impose his or her views upon us in the name of love? It soon becomes apparent such people care little for us, but only for themselves. They wish only to win their argument, to chalk up another victory for their side. From time to time people in that frame of mind tell me they will pray for me, by which they mean, they fully expect God will work on me to see how right they are and how wrong I am.
Faith? Yes, I guess they have it. But love? Well, I don't know. Love tries not only to state its own views, it tries to understand the other's point of view. Many scientific rationalists and religious dogmatists can tell you in no uncertain terms what they believe, but they would have difficulty relating with any depth someone else's position. Faith in our tapestry? Yes, but colored and caressed by love.
Paul goes on: "If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." Not many Christians today are lining up to be martyred. Few of us would sell all we have, as did some early Christians, and give it to the church. Nor would we sell ourselves into slavery to secure the freedom of a slave, as did other early Christians.
But many of us do give our bodies to be burned not at the stake of martyrdom, but at the shrine of success. Many men claim they would rather burn out than rust out, and they succeed in doing so at an early age. If you ask them why they are working such long hours, driving themselves so hard, many would say they are doing it for their wives and children. But if the truth were known, many are doing it for their own sakes to the neglect of their families.
Many men (and women, too) have come to think of love as success and success as love. How can they love their families? By being successful and then by showering their families with material things, calling it love. And how many women and children have been bought off by that kind of thinking?
Let us not misunderstand. We are not knocking success. We are not criticizing ambitious, talented, high-achievers. Far from it. We are not saying it is wrong to shower loved ones with gifts of material things. We are not saying that.
What we are saying is that we can burn ourselves out for material success and have no real love for anyone, even our own family. In their own way, mothers can do the same, burning themselves out on a hundred good causes without any real concern for the people. It is possible to be concerned about children and education in general and neglect the love and education of our own children in particular. Bodies burning themselves out everywhere, but perhaps too frequently without the love of which Paul speaks.
Tapestries of knowledge without compassion, faith without openness, charity without concern, ambition and self-sacrifice without genuine love for the other -- tapestries of these kind have a way of unraveling, of sagging, and of disintegrating.
II.
Paul speaks of a better way -- the way of Christian love. Remember that he uses that special Greek work for love agape. Agape love is unselfish. Like an artesian well it arises out of the depths of a heart that has willed to love even in the worst of times. This is love which exists not only in times of pleasure but also in times of pain. This is the love with which God loves us. And what a tapestry the strands of this kind of love create.
Note the first strand. "Love is patient and kind," says Paul. We live in an age of stress. These are hard times to be patient. Our nerves are on edge. So many of us are full speed ahead in career and social pursuits we barely tolerate the slightest detour, the most insignificant roadblock. We blow up at the slightest provocation. Irritable and touchy, we are quick with insult and slander.
And the reason is obvious. We are hell-bent in the pursuit of our own goals. Many of us give far too little thought to the feelings and concerns of others. Change that, says Paul. Weave into your tapestry that warm color of kindness and patience and see what a difference it will make.
"Love is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude," continues Paul. Contrast this wisdom of the centuries with the two-bit advice now promulgated in books which suggest winning by intimidation and by cheap tricks of manipulation. How can people really believe and accept the kind of advice for personal relationships which would tear apart every professional firm and business, not to mention families, schools, and churches?
We seem to have a culture which speaks out of both sides of its mouth at the same time. On the one side, it encourages communication, understanding, listening, and adaptability. But on the other side, it recommends intimidation, manipulation, exploitation, one-upmanship, and the brutal putdown. On the one side, it lauds the beauty of humanity, exclaims with apparent sincerity that humankind is essentially reasonable and good, that everyone wants to do what is right. But on the other side of the mouth, we hear no one can be trusted, that most people are out to get you, that it's dog eat dog, a rat race, a jungle. No wonder the fabric of our life gets torn farther and farther apart. We have no center thread weaving it together.
How beautiful to see people sincerely compliment one another and think of the other's career rather than their own. At the next party you attend, ask yourself if you always are talking about your career, your children, your achievements, your problems, or if you are inquiring about another person's life, showing a genuine interest in his concerns. What a glow our life-tapestry takes on when we begin to show appreciation for another's life, rather than always having to speak of our own.
"Love does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right." The spoiled child always insists the rest of the world march to his drumbeat. The mature Christian listens to the ideas and dreams and goals of others. If everyone in the family or church or school or business insists on his or her own way, there will be no tapestry -- only fragments and frazzled strands lying about in disarray. Love is a listening love, a considerate love, a mature love -- color it warm.
"Love is not irritable or resentful." Some people are meticulous bookkeepers when it comes to keeping track of wrongs. Many people are tight little bundles of grudges and resentments, all tied up in legalistic knots of keeping score and waiting for the chance of retaliation. Obviously no life will be a tapestry with that sort of negative tension at work. But let the powerful forces of forgiveness and grace and largeness of heart begin to do their work, and you have a different fabric of life altogether. Our miserly souls begin to expand when we forgive and allow forgiveness to flow out into the distant fulfilling strands of our tapestry. Resentment boxes us into a tighter and tighter corner where we feel at home in no church or school or club or group anymore. Soon there is just me and thee, and then I am not too sure about thee.
Some people "rejoice in wrong." They love malicious slander and delight in juicy morsels of negative gossip. They always are glad when the worst happens to other people. They are happy to pull others down and deeply dislike success by others. In their own deficiency and weakness, they cannot bear to have others strong and successful. They live in the negative rather than the positive. Unable to accept themselves, they resent the happiness and balanced adjustment of others. But love rejoices in the right. It is glad to see victory. It lives in the positive. It pulls together and is glad to see the beautiful contributions of others in life's tapestry. The soloist must always remember he would not sound nearly so beautiful without the rest of the orchestra.
"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." If it were not for love, how could mothers bear as much as they do? Day after day the demands of children and husband, church, school, and community bear down upon these talented, intelligent women who give so generously of energy and time. Many of them give day after day in unsung, unheralded ways, bearing the burden of weaving a tapestry whole and entire. How many burdens and sorrows they often bear in their own hearts because they love. It is people who bear all things with love who save the day for the world.
"Love believes all things." Moffatt's translation says, "Love is always eager to believe the best." Contrast that with the mood which always is eager to believe the worst. It is a trying time to be a public leader. Many leaders have indeed earned our distrust, but now we seem ready to believe the worst about everybody. Through misinformation or half-truths, we quickly assassinate character and expect the worst to happen. Love maintains hope. It lasts and lasts. It is not flighty or flippant, but hangs in there to hold the tapestry together. Love lasts forever and so does the tapestry woven with its many colors.
III.
We look for love in a thousand eyes
and ten thousand moments of ten thousand nights.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of love,
around the corner, to the city.
And yet we're blue and black
A many-colored love,
a love colored over and over
with kindergarten splashes
and urges
and no design
and no art.
Where do we go from here?
"Jesus, Joy of man's desiring
Holy wisdom, love most bright,
drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring,
Soar to uncreated light."
We have our loves,
they come and go.
Desire fires our action,
craving need our soul's seeking,
But, Jesus, you are the joy of all our desiring,
the deepest wisdom for our wondering hearts,
the faithful lover of our being.
Drawn by Thee our souls soar beyond the distant sky.
Our hearts leap out to the glowing color-caressing wind;
We fly in freedom with all God's winged creatures,
And we see the trees and the cross and Jesus there.
Ah, were there ever an act of loving, he was it.
Jesus broke the death barrier with love,
He affirmed forever that life and love
are stronger than death
And we sing Jesus, Joy of man's desiring.
Not frothy happiness maybe, not giggly-girl joviality,
not an athlete's backslapping,
nor even good-naturedness,
But joy, deep and abiding,
A victory of the soul.
The many colors of love
passion pink
envy green
sorrow blue
anger black
love red.
-- Maurice A. Fetty
Life is a tapestry, intricate and varied in pattern and design, woven in many colors of love and wonderful to behold.
Prayer
We look out across your lakes, across your resplendent hills, to the infinite sky, and we are drawn to awe and praise, O God. How wonderfully the world is made. How magnificently pleasing it is -- subtle fragrances, birdsongs which never tire, fresh winds to clear the air and mind, lush colors infinite in variety and contrast, and we behold them all. There are soft things to touch, and to taste we have foods and spices beyond count. How ever could we cease to praise you, Lord, for this exhilaration of sensate life, life alive and aware, receiving into itself, splendor and glory beyond description?
When we look out across the world of our own history, we are conscious of the mixed bag of love and hate, peace and war, positive and negative. We reach out and receive into ourselves hundreds of people. We build our bridges and tear them down. We confess the world of our making is not as regular and faithful as your world of nature, O God. In our freedom, we create questionable mixtures and bring into being patterns and structures which work to our detriment rather than our upbuilding.
We come not only thanking you for freedom. We come seeking your help in the use of the liberty we have. Like fledgling architects with raw materials and tentative designs in our hands, we search for the touch of your genius to make it right. Or like artists with canvas and colors and beginning sketches, we seek the guidance of your master eye and touch. But, of course, many of us are more than beginners. We've constructed lives which resemble "gerry built" mountain cabins. Or we've painted the canvas of our life in distorted colors and images. Or the fabric of our life is frayed and torn, misshapen and faded.
O Gentle Repairer of all broken spirits and contrite hearts, mend the wounds and fractures of our lives. Make us whole and strong and balanced. And may our life canvas be radiant with the many colors of love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
