“It is no accident that we were born in the same epoch, & that our stories have twined in this time & in this place. Let us therefore go forth & steward one another’s stories.”
~ Douglas McKelvey
from “A Liturgy For Leavings” // Every Moment Holy

“You will always be part of my tapestry.”
~ “Tapestry” // Bruno Major

Sunday night, I found myself in the house of a stranger.

Usually, that would be unsettling or, at least, uncomfortable. Yet, it wasn’t, ’cause I knew quite a few of the people present; I just didn’t know the hosts. They were people I’d never met until that evening.

It happened to be the hostess’ birthday which was a lil amusing to me ’cause we sang to her & half of us didn’t know her name until seconds earlier. But I suppose that doesn’t really matter. You don’t need to truly know someone to wish them good health & much joy on the anniversary of their entrance into this world, & to mean it.

We did the honours and then eventually, after much chatting & eating (& a lil moment where I got 2 of my friends to re-enact a fight-scene from my upcoming novel so I could better visualize it) we got down to the business at hand: the Bible Study.

As we discussed the Christian life, it struck me in that crowded space, where we all sprawled, sat, or stood in the living room & dining room;
that for this one night, we were all part of each other’s Stories.

Granted, for quite a few of us, we mingle fairly often so we’ve been part of each other’s Stories for awhile already. But that thought tends to quietly meander through my mind in moments like these. Moments when a group of individuals find themselves “thrown” together, purposefully or by “accident”.

For those few hours, we shared each other’s time & space.

Years may pass & many of us may forget that Sunday night, & there really wasn’t anything extraordinary about it. Nothing monumental happened. No unexpected joy or solemn tragedy or highly embarrassing or awkward situation. It was a Sunday night like many other Sunday nights we’ve had.

& yet,
it was another joint thread in the separate tapestries of our lives.

I’m smack-dab in the middle of one of my top 5 favourite novels: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I love it greatly for many reasons, but one of them is also the main reason I love Dickens’ novels in general:
he always connects each character & each subplot to the main plot; nothing is wasted.

His books are (perhaps infamously) known for their obscene length & massive casts of characters. But his stories are hundreds of pages BECAUSE he has so many characters (& ’cause of the descriptions & wordiness….but we love him).

He always make it worth your while, though. If you stick with him, stick with the seemingly meandering plots, he rewards you in the end when your eyes widen & you nod slowly with an “ahh, now it all makes sense”.

I love that ’cause it mirrors our own Real Lives. I’m sure many of us have seemingly meandering plots & subplots.

We’re wondering “where on earth is this going?”
or “why did the Most High bring this person into my life only for them to slip away for whatever reason?”
or “when will this end?”
or “why open this door & let me walk through only for it to land up a dead end?”

Well, lovely humans, the Most High doesn’t promise us answers to those questions in this life. Yet, He is sometimes gracious enough to have us look back in hind-sight & see exactly what it was all for & why.

It’s happened to me several times already & it’s so exciting. I think that’s why I find myself musing quite a bit on life-tapestries & friend groups & connections over the years. It’s thrilling to think that moments like Sunday night actually Mean Something.

Who knows where all of us in that crowded house will be however long from now?

Who knows what friendships will have deepened,
what romantic relationships will have blossomed,
what people will disappear for a bit & then reappear to join in the Dance again,
what hardships some will weather together,
what wounds we will sadly inflict on one another,
which relationships will sever,
how we will help each other in ways we would never have dreamed,
what new lovely humans will cross our path & become dear friends,
or who will bow out of the shared tapestry altogether ’cause their part was only for a season?

In any crowded room, the Most High alone knows the parts we have to play in each other’s Stories for good or ill.

& so comes the call to faithfully steward one another’s Stories as they intersect with our own. There are no accidents or trivial relationships when the Most High is at the helm of this world’s ship. He does it all with glorious purpose.

While He doesn’t call us to try & peel back the veil on His sovereignty & providence & find signs in the clouds & in every occurrence;
He does call us to love one another well as we walk together for however long.

Things change, & the way we love may look different; yet the command remains the same.

The last thing that gives me Hope & Courage in all of this, & I pray it does the same for you as well, is that things come round in the end if it’s the will of Christ. Relationships we long to see mended, desires we long to see fulfilled, dreams we long to see realized, people we long to return home once again;

it’ll all come round, the threads will intertwine, & the Dance will begin anew if it’s what the King has decreed.

So, every now & then (if you don’t already do this), pause & think back on the threads in your Tapestry & pray for healing, if that’s needed, but, most of all,
thank our Saviour for His goodness in doing all things well.

& then, pay attention the next time you’re in a crowded room at a wedding or a funeral or a Bible Study or a gathering of friends & acquaintances. Perhaps you’ll be surprised to discover all the ways you’ve intertwined with the Stories of those present & they with yours 🖤

“What connexion can there have been between many people in the innumerable histories of this world, who, from opposite sides of great gulfs, have, nevertheless, been very curiously brought together!”⁣
bleak house // charles dickens

“I have sometimes sat alone here of an evening, listening, until I have made the echoes out to be echoes of all the footsteps that are coming by-and-bye into our lives.”
~ Lucie Manette
a tale of two cities // charles dickens

death to the Shadow
courage,
always courage
behold, we have not lived in vain