I’ve found something consistent in any long-term craft project that I undertake. When I start the project (let’s say I’m knitting a mitten), it begins and takes shape so quickly. Once I start getting the needles going, I can very easily see where it is going and what it might look like. This is exciting, because I love the feeling of accomplishing something productive. I love the feeling of seeing my work take form in something valuable.
But the reality soon sinks in that this is something that takes too dang long.
There’s an old Ernest Hemingway quote about the two ways you go bankrupt, “Gradually, then suddenly.” That is the inverse of how I feel about craft projects. “Suddenly, then gradually.” There’s nothing more exciting than watching the project take shape in front of you. I started learning cross-stitching (self-taught, not to brag*), and I gotta tell you, I’m not good at it. I started a pattern and then the next time I picked it up, I accidentally turned the loop sideways and went in the complete wrong direction. But for that initial shining moment, I saw something take shape before my very eyes. I saw a needle go in, then out, and after a few times there was something approximating a flower. Once I realized I passed the point of no return, I decided to make up my own pattern, and it looked awesome at first**, but now it looks pretty much the same as it did a while ago.
Advent is here! Pretty soon we’ll be celebrating Jesus’ birth and remembering that moment in time that began something new. Jesus’ birth and life showed us the world that could be. Jesus’ humble origins told us about a world where the last became first and those on the margins became central to God’s story. Jesus’ teachings laid out a revelatory form of love and community that transcends our painful tribalism. Jesus’ short time on the planet outlined an incredible future for human flourishing.
I wonder how God feels about that.
The project started a long time ago and really looked like it was coming along. And here we are 2,000 years later and still not even gotten up to the thumb***. I feel like God’s just sitting there like, “This project has been on the needles way too long, maybe I should just take it out and make something easier.”
But the project of justice starts suddenly, then gradually. The cast-on row is what we see in Advent and then through the gospels. Now we’re having to grow one stitch at a time, and that’s not something we’re built for.
But at least it will be a nice mitten.
Peace,
Jeff
*Actually, I’m trying to brag.^
**I’m writing a name, it is not all that awesome.
***Remember when I said I was knitting a glove?
^Actually, quoting Ernest Hemingway was also a brag. I’m incorrigible.~
~I’m not all that incorrigible.
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