Dry Brush Painting of “At the Loom”,
image created by Thomas Fideler using AI
THE WARP, THE WEFT, AND THE SHUTTLE
I had a dream in the night, several years ago. It was during a time when I was in the throes of a low and troubled season of my life and I was awash in grief and loss.
In the dream, I was walking with someone I loved very much. We were in a vast, enclosed area resembling a large shopping mall. Together we walked slowly down a wide concourse, with stores on either side of us. I had a sense that we were looking for something, though it was not clear to me, then, what that was. We paused in front of the doorway of each store and looked in, trying to discern what kind of business was being conducted there, but most of the stores were so dark, it was difficult to see anything inside.
Then, we came to a store that was different than all the rest—and we stopped. This store had no display windows or entry doors; instead, the entire front of the store was wide open. I could see inside this store; the lighting was soft and warm, casting a golden glow on the interior rather than that of normal flat, cold, fluorescent retail lighting.
I immediately turned and walked in, even though the one that I loved continued down the concourse. The interior of the store was an exceptionally large, deep space that extended back as far as I could see. And as I looked about, I saw that the room was filled with large hand-operated looms. Each loom was filled with warp threads and weft threads, and cloth was being made.
At the looms sat beings who had the appearance of men, though when I looked more closely, I noted that their faces and their bodies seemed slightly translucent and golden like the light. I watched as each being passed a shuttle back and forth through the warp in their loom, laying down weft threads. Over, over, and over, they moved the shuttle, ever so patiently, back-and-forth, from side to side, lifting the warp threads and passing the shuttle through, and then lowering the warp and passing the shuttle back again, then lifting again—each time adding a new line of thread to the fabric.
As I watched, mesmerized by the steady pace of the cloth being formed, I noticed that on the looms, from time to time, a golden light would shimmer off some of the threads from the newly created fabric. And I became aware that the operators of the looms, as they worked, were singing in perfect, beautiful harmony. Even though their singing was in a language that I could not understand, it deeply moved me in my spirit.
I was profoundly affected by being in the presence of these angelic-like beings weaving and singing. But then I remembered that the person whom I loved deeply was not there with me, and I wanted her to experience this as well. So, I left the room, ran down the concourse after her, and brought her back so she could see and hear what was occurring at the looms. There the dream ended.
With regret, I awoke to a darker, colder world. For a time, I contemplated what I had seen, but its meaning was not clear. Then I prayed and asked God to help me understand this dream.
He, very soon, answered my prayer, and I understood that the fabric being made on the looms represented the “fabric” of my life up to that time—the finished whole of which, when someday cut from the loom, will be presented before God. The weft threads that passed through the warp on the shuttle were as the days and content of my life as I choose to live them.
Then, I understood more viscerally that we are all an integral part of the outcome of this weaving process, choosing each day to follow our heavenly Father and our Messiah, and to be transformed by the Spirit of God—to be a blessing to God and mankind. Or, choosing to go our own path, ignoring God, his love, and his purposes for us, and living merely for ourselves. Thus, some threads in the fabric of our lives are golden, some are not.
Thankfully, when we entrust our lives to God through Jesus the Messiah, by grace we are adopted into God’s family as his very own sons and daughters. And the gold that will be woven into the fabric of our lives occurs because, as we listen, obey, and learn to love more perfectly, we are being transformed by his patient workmanship, empowered by his spirit, and birthed into a life of hope and peace—all the while bringing others with us into the Kingdom. God is our advocate to help us overcome and succeed in this quest.
This dream provided me with a sobering answer to why I had arrived at this troubled point of my life; I had chosen to ignore God and, instead, choose my own selfish path. But it also provided me with a memorable reminder that we, as God’s children, are works in progress, unfinished tapestries. As long as we have breath, we are still on the loom, still in process, still holding the promise of becoming who he intends us to be, because he is our ever-present help. We have this hope as an anchor.
Thomas Fideler
◀︎ Previous | Next “The Breaking Wave” ►
Verse & Reflection Index • Home • About • Contact • Photography
© 2023 Thomas B. Fideler
You may comment below…
WaypointsAndWords.Com 