In my sermon on Sunday, I told the story about old Mother Earth who wove the fabric of life in brilliant colors while at the same time stirring the stew of life, being sure it did not burn. One day, with her garment of life almost done, she had to walk to the back of the cave and stir the stew again. Chaos the dog had been lying in a dark corner and got up as Mother went to the stew and started pulling on a loose thread in the garment. As each thread was connected to every other, soon the entire garment was nothing but a hill of loose threads.
Mother Earth returned to the garment and just stared at the pile of thread. She did not yell at the chaos but simply sat down and picked up a thread and began to weave the garment again, in a new and even more brilliant pattern. (adapted from Michael Meade’s Why the World Doesn’t End, Tales of Renewal in Times of Loss)
The story calls the dog “the Black Dog” which, on reflection I should have omitted. Chaos is hard enough without giving it a racial overtone. The point was that no matter what happens to us, we can, and indeed we should, pick up what has fallen and create anew.
In this time of struggle and brokenness I leave you with this gentle wisdom: Entropy and Creation are always dancing; it is up to us to balance the dance.
See you in church,
Rev. John