Woven Into God's Fabric

Beloved in Christ,

I am spending a few days this week in the Navajoland Area Mission as part of the work for a standing commission I serve on for the General Convention. This morning, we visited Spider Rock at Canyon de Chelly, which is a particularly sacred site for the Navajo people. It is understood to be part of the people’s origin, and the place where they were taught the art of weaving. To this day, weavers visit the site to pray and receive inspiration for their craft. The Reverend Cornelia Eaton, Canon to the Ordinary for Navajoland, reflected on how weaving is a sacred act, requiring the alignment of every part of a person: mental, physical, and spiritual.

As we dwell in Luke this fall, one distinguishing feature about that gospel is the intensity with which Jesus “sets his face toward Jerusalem” after his experience being transfigured on the holy mountain. Just as Canon Eaton described the Navajo weavers, Jesus’ whole being is focused on his primary purpose of journeying to the heart of human sin and offering the fullness of God’s healing and liberating love.

One of the questions Luke’s gospel invites us to ask ourselves is, do we have that kind of singular focus? Do we see our lives as part of a larger, cosmic story that is unfolding, and in which we get to play a role? Do we have sacred places and spiritual practices that we return to again and again in order to bring our whole being into alignment with that purpose?

We all get to choose whether or not we give our one life to something, or simply let it pass by. Dwelling in scripture, daily practices of prayer, gathering at least weekly with other disciples, is how we learn to see our lives as part of a grand, cosmic story, which began with our ancestors in ancient Israel, and in which we have been invited to take our place. When we give ourselves over to that story every day, we discover the paradoxical truth that it is precisely when we are bound together and woven into the fabric of God’s project to heal the whole world with love that we finally find true freedom and life.

Grace and peace,

The Right Revered Craig Loya
X Bishop