Have you ever talked to folks in your family or with friends and you hear disappointment in their voices. It happens and it is hard to hear. We want to turn away and get out of the conversation but the best thing for the relationship and our faith lives is to gather our courage together to have the tough conversations in a compassionate and loving way. We cannot do this delicate threading of the needle of faith, sewing the seams of our lives tightly together, without help from the author of creation.

Today I have written a piece based on the word ‘threading’ – we may not call it that but  to me it seemed like an appropriate picture of what we are called to do in our daily lives. Any seamstress worth her fabric and thread knows that it takes skill, practice and attention to become even competent at the task. We don’t always rise to the occasion, I’m afraid. I know I don’t and I find myself apologizing later. 

I believe that God is always asking us to be our better selves and we can only accomplish that with his steady compassionate help and being ready to hear and respond. He is our rock! 

T he Lord is compassionate and gracious, 

   slow to anger, abounding in love. -Psalms    

   Trust in your bond with the divine

H e had compassion on them and healed 

    their sick, after [Jesus] had seen the 

    large crowd.’ -Matthew 

    We may not heal in the miraculous way 

    Jesus did but our compassion poured out 

    as disciples can heal many wounds and 

    fears.

R eally loving our fellow human even though 

    at times it is sooooo hard and takes much 

    communion with God to find our way 

    through the maze before us. 

E phesians says: ‘Be kind and 

    compassionate to one another, forgiving 

    each other, just as in Christ God forgave 

    you.’ Continually bestowing seemingly 

    impossible grace and mercy – following 

    our guide to stitch with straight and true 

    hearts. 

A dminister true justice; show mercy and 

    compassion to one another. Prefaced by 

    ‘This is what the Almighty said.’ 

    -Zechariah 

    Pray for our aching complicated 

    sometimes scary world. Pray 

    that we take time to know how to 

    skillfully thread the situations we find 

    ourselves in, whether it be with family or 

    in the larger presence of God’s family, so 

    that there is a binding union of the fabrics 

    of lives spun only by God’s artistry on his 

    holy loom. 

D eliberately deciding to act from our source 

    of love before derailing ourselves in the 

    details. 

I nviting the Holy Spirit to constantly be at 

    work in us. If we are slow at this or don’t 

    think of it even, the Holy Spirit has a way 

    of showing us a thing or two! A friend has 

    taught me about this important part of 

    our faith. 

N one of us is perfect; even if we bend 

    continuously to our work with life’s ever 

    changing cloth. Remember to straighten 

    up and walk in the garden often with God, 

    we need his forgiveness continually. Oh, 

    and, notice the garden’s beauty…….

    it’s marvelous side/sight benefit is really a 

    nuance that heightens our senses as we 

    walk with God. 

G o God’s way. Get your hearts, souls, 

    gratitude, compassion, mouths and steps 

    in gear. We can only but serve – consider 

    this, we can learn to do so gracefully and 

    tenderly for the sake of our father’s 

    children, understanding we each are his 

    treasured children. 

~Shauna Weil

A devotion provided by the Devotion Ministry of Goodrich UMC