We have all been given an individual pattern to use in our lives, woven with our own abilities, talents, temperment and visions. Uniquely threaded, uniquely displaying our own fingerprint; a design which holds the story of our potential.
Destiny's tapestry
If you were to place the pattern up on the mantel above the fireplace while you stood back to view it, you may be able to admire the combination of colours and the blur of the lines, but you'll find that it's difficult to decipher the pattern clearly and you may simply walk away from it...........forgetting the intricacies, forgetting the design.
If you were to show it to a friend to ask them for their interpretation of the pattern, they could possibly offer descriptive insights which may allow you to see it in a new light. Food for thought, but in the end it's your interpretation of the pattern that matters
If you were to make a shawl from the pattern to wear over your shoulders, keeping you warm.........allowing you to see it under different lighting.................offering you an opportunity to adjust the fit...............it would always be there to admiringly consider while you learned of it's intricacies.
Your own tapestry.............your own shawl of many colours................to wear down the path to fulfilling your destiny.
Knowing the make up of your pattern will allow you to choose your unique path ...... will allow you to unfold your talents, your fingerprint...............will guide you towards fulfilling the destiny God has designed for you.
Destiny's tapestry
If you were to place the pattern up on the mantel above the fireplace while you stood back to view it, you may be able to admire the combination of colours and the blur of the lines, but you'll find that it's difficult to decipher the pattern clearly and you may simply walk away from it...........forgetting the intricacies, forgetting the design.
If you were to show it to a friend to ask them for their interpretation of the pattern, they could possibly offer descriptive insights which may allow you to see it in a new light. Food for thought, but in the end it's your interpretation of the pattern that matters
If you were to make a shawl from the pattern to wear over your shoulders, keeping you warm.........allowing you to see it under different lighting.................offering you an opportunity to adjust the fit...............it would always be there to admiringly consider while you learned of it's intricacies.
Your own tapestry.............your own shawl of many colours................to wear down the path to fulfilling your destiny.
Knowing the make up of your pattern will allow you to choose your unique path ...... will allow you to unfold your talents, your fingerprint...............will guide you towards fulfilling the destiny God has designed for you.
10 comments:
Sometimes I am scared to put it on. I know that I am not fulfilling what I was meant to do. I am not filling out my shawl very well at this moment.
My degree and ability to speak both languages fluently should allow me to make more of myself than I have.
My father has asked me to fill out all the paperwork for survivor benefits for my mother. She never contributed so he will get nothing. I believe she filled out her shawl or coat but not as much as she could have. Really, she didn't reach her full potential. I am going to try to learn from her and start exploring my skills, talents and abilities. Possibly I am meant to do something more. The lesson I have learned in the past month is not to wait for opportunity to find you and never consider tomorrow to be your right. I need to find out what I need to do for myself to fill out my coat better today.
No longer will I be afraid to apply for a job that I am completely qualified for. The Fiddlehead job should have and could have been mine...had I put on my designed coat and followed its intructions! Next time I see my jacket hanging unused I will try it on and keep doing so until it finally fits.
Hi Sunny.........thank you for your honesty..... I too have a tough time figuring out the pattern on my shawl..... sometimes it seems like it's a multi-hued, and sometimes it looks hideously ugly in the light... :)
Sometimes I think I have the darn thing on inside out.......
It was a bunch of different thoughts that led me to write this piece.
For some reason, I was thinking about part of a sermon my Minister (from waaaaaay back in my "Upper Canada" days)gave during the funeral of a friend who had died tragically in a car accident. His words struck me then and have continued to resonate since for some reason......
Sarah was my age (21). Her parents were good friends with mine...... Rev. Johnson used the idea of a book mark.....you know one of those book marks that are embroidered and have a pithy saying on one side and when you turn it over, the threads are all mixed up and make no sense? He used this analogy to describe the indescrible death of Sarah....we were all looking for an answer but the threads were all mixed up.....and that possibly one day through faith and healing we could make sense of it........
The bookmark analogy came to mind last week when I was thinking about how it will take time for you to make any sense out of your mom's passing........
The other story is about a client I met with last Friday in his home with his family. He is autistic.......somewhat verbal and was able to answer my questions. When I asked him about his "daily routine" (ie. what he enjoyed doing) he stated that liked to take photos and work on his "tower." The photos he shared with me were all of inanimate objects.......most of which were of straight lines and shadows. Fences, guardrails, framing of new houses, jet streams etc.......never taken on a cloudy day/ always on a sunny shadow producing day. His tower? It was an intricate 12 foot 3 dimensional unfinished lego tower.....each row was the same number of lego pieces, each foot was a different colour. Amazing.......
When I left this man's home, I was struck by the fact that his fulfillment and destiny is very different than most......his shawl may be a different shade than the rest of us are used to looking at.....but he is seeking fulfillment like the rest of us. He is one of us........
Does that make any sense whatsoever? It did when my thoughts merged.....we all search for personal fulfillment using our God given unique designs as a guide ........ sometimes circumstances or experiences make no sense and we need to trust that eventually it will?
OK.......my brain hurts now.....
Hey dana
I can't remember who said this but i scribbled it down in my journal ages ago:
Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
watch your words, for they become actions.
watch your actions, for they become habits.
watch your habits, for they become character
watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
i don't think i can add anything else - very provocative (in a good way) post
Thank you very much. What you are saying makes perfect sense. It is like the back of a tangled up cross stitch.
We all have different ideas of what constitutes fulfillment. Your autistic friend's life would be fulfilled differently than you or I but in no less valuable. My mother must have felt somewhat fulfilled or else she just wasn't in the right frame of mind to do anything different than the status quo. Either way she was happy most of the time so that must count for something.
Can't wait for the next post.
Hey Paul.
I like your comment. I can actually see using that in a counselling situation too.....
For me personally.......
That process from thoughts to destiny reflects how I feel about my journey back to believing in God again. It also reflects where I am as an individual.
There are some components of religion and spirituality that have assimilated with the whole "me".....the solid foundation that I walk upon. These beliefs have become action, have become part of my tapestry.
Then, there are new "threads" which have just been added.....new thoughts/learning that are germinating that may become part of my destiny. I don't know yet if they will. What I have found is that my blog and my writing is the perfect avenue to make them more concrete...to push the thoughts further down the path to believing. The more I consider the concepts.....the more I discuss them....formulate meaning, shape them etc.....I find that it becomes part of my being.
I'm happy to be going down this emerging spirit pathway....my shawl, though it may be on inside out every now and then......is fitting better.
PS. As for any comments I have on your blog today? Blimey is right!! I need more time to feel comfortable putting my thoughts to words...........it is beautifully written Paul. My goodness, you write well.
Hi Sunny..........Oh I'm so glad I was able to explain myself. Sometimes my explanations come out in a dyslexic way....... I blame it on being left handed in a right handed thinking world.
Fulfillment is a different kettle of fish for each individual, and yet we all observe others and wonder about their level of satisfaction etc.
I remember years ago working with this young woman. She was an amazing high energy firecracker....bright academically, managing to juggle two kids, upgrading and a social life as a single mom. Her personality was perfect for sales. Whenever we met, we would explore various career options together etc......and I would mention the possibility of a Business degree and Sales..... She wanted to be a cocktail waitress. Back and forth we went in our conversation (I even arranged for her to job shadow a cosmetics sales person for a couple of days) until finally I realized that her perception of fulfillment....of destiny with respect to her career very different........but it was HERS, not mine. Who the hell am I to be playing with her choices like that?
yes......she was introduced to me to teach me that lesson..... too bad that every now and then I need a refresher...... :)
Next post? Hmmmmmmmmmm...... I'm tapped out right now...... but something will come...... it always seems to........
a design which holds the story of our potential.
I like this analogy. It doesn't discount the idea that although we may have a destiny, we are also blessed with free will. To me, that means the freedom to apply that fabric in any number of ways - be it constructive or destructive - to realize the whatever potential I might hold.
Nice.
Sometimes I feel I was given the wrong coat from the coat check girl! It's similar to mine, but it not until the light of day you discover that your wearing someone else’s coat.
Today I feel like it is time to change the coat completely. I love my well-worn coat but it was one that was given to me to grow into. Now is the time to pick a new style, cut & color and sew my own coat. (Something tells me it will be a quilted patchwork one)
I have failed in the past & felt I haven't fulfilled my destiny ... I have wasted time on irrelavant things. Instead of dwelling on the past's should, could & would a's each new day is an opportunity to live life to the fullest.
Hi Mike. I fully agree with you. Plus I believe the process is lifelong. We are constantly discovering different talents and interests to apply to the tapestry.......ever changing. Free will is key
Rollo May describes it well....
"Freedom is man's capacity to take a hand in his own development. It is our capacity to mold ourselves."
Roar friend! Nice to see your comments. Your coat of many colours will most definately be a quilted piece of art! Perhaps....with squares from your past that you want to include and new ones depicting your future journeys! To keep you warm........ :)
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