The Tapestry Poem - djedwardson.com

The Tapestry Poem

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Recently I was driving around, running errands, when I heard a poem being recited on the radio. Not a very common occurrence these days. But what a blessing that I can be moving around town and hear words of wisdom, written by another person, and recited by yet another person which have somehow traveled through the airwaves, are received by an apparatus in my car, and then arrive at my ear in such a way that I can understand the words, thoughts, and truths being expressed. Have you ever thought about how amazing that is? The wonder that such a thing exists and is actually real? It seems to defy explanation that we should live in such an intelligible universe. And yet we take such marvels for granted because they are common place.

But the wonder does not stop there. For the poem itself was also exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. Hard words, but good words. Bittersweet, yet needful. And I was left reflecting on them long after the last syllable was spoken and the car had pulled back into the driveway.

Just what I needed to hear. And as I think about it again now, surely that providential arrangement of events was an even greater wonder than the poem and the radio and all that jazz which allowed the message to reach me. You see, towards the end of last year some members of my family were dealing with some very serious illnesses and some of those health issues are ongoing and look to be a part of our lives indefinitely. I don’t know if you’ve ever dealt with serious illness, but it can really take you off your game. Some days sickness is more than just rain on your parade, it’s like a raging torrent, washing all your confetti and flower petals down the drain. It can threaten to take your hopes and dreams with it, even when it’s not you who is suffering from it. It’s hard watching those you love go through terrible pain and feeling like there is nothing you can do to stop it.

He weaveth steadily

And yet, in the midst of it all came this poem, speaking of God and the way he weaves our lives as a tapestry. I’ve always loved the metaphor of God as a weaver. It can be so hard to wrap your mind around the realities of providence and omnipotence, but somehow seeing God as the skillful artist and our lives as his tapestry helps to make sense of the insensible. This is one of the reasons I chose to title one of the chapters from my book, Into the Vast, “Weaving”. In it, one of the characters explains how she dealt with the death of her husband. She says one of my favorite lines from the book, “Never give up. Because giving up is only trading a small problem for a larger one. Everything, in the end, is passing”.

The ideas of pain and suffering and God’s role in them come up in Awakening the Sentients as well. In that novel, one of the characters asks, “The question is not, why does he not give us only good gifts, but why does he give us any good gifts at all?” It is a question we do not like to ask, especially in the midst of suffering. There is something in us that has the sense that “that’s not right” when we face unexpected pain and tragedy. We have an inkling that this is not how the story was meant to play out, and yet if we are able to have the faith to trust the author of the story, we may yet see that there is an end coming which will make sense of it all.

The poem I heard was often quoted by a woman well versed in pain and suffering, Corrie Ten Boom, that dear Dutch saint and survivor of the concentration camps of WWII. I watched her story portrayed in the movie, “The Hiding Place”several years ago, and every time she is quoted, or I hear stories from her life, I am amazed by her great faith and love for God. Reflecting on the source of this poem, that it resonated so much with someone who came through a crucible of such horrific experience, only deepens my amazement at the wonder of these truths and of the God who ordained that they should be written down, recited, and heard, in a tiny little car, on a cold winter day, in the midst of sorrow springing forth to faith, hope, and trust in God, the grand weaver of the universe.

Tapestry poem used by Corrie Ten Boom

If you can’t see the image for some reason, here is the text version for the Tapestry Poem:

Life is But a Weaving

My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.
Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned
He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.

NOTE: When originally published, this article mistakenly attributed Corrie Ten Boom as the author of the poem. That has since been corrected. I had so many questions about this that I contacted the Corrie Ten Boom House and they informed me that the poem was written by Grant Colfax Tullar and is actually entitled “The Weaver”, however it is often referred to as simply “The Tapestry Poem” as I have referred to it here.

12 thoughts on “The Tapestry Poem”

    1. That is a really great visual example, isn’t it? I wasn’t aware that she had done something like that when she spoke, but it seems like a powerful way to bring her point home.

  1. I just learned about this poem. It was mentioned in the book Operating Instructions from the author Anne Lamott. My friend has recently been diagnosed with cancer and I plan to send this poem to her hoping it would lift her up.
    Thank you for printing it here.

    1. That’s a wonderful idea. I pray the words will give her strength and that God will guide her through her sickness and heal her. Thanks for letting me know you are using it to help someone else and thanks for stopping by.

  2. The author of this poem is unknown. Corrie quotes it in several of her books, but aways makes sure the reader knows that the author is unknow.
    I was reading one of her books when I went into premature labor. It was the only thing I had with me in the hospital. The next morning the nurse came in to tell me my daughter had died. I opened the book and this poem was on the page for me to read. It got me through the day and the funeral. A lot of prayer and God’s Word, but this poem touched my heart. It stayed the bitterness and healed my broken heart.

  3. Pingback: February 25, 2017 | A Scroll In The Garden

  4. Ellie and Jim Rosenthal

    This poem has really touched me in a time when i really needed to see it. Our only child passed away our Son and he was an adult. My strong faith, church family and true meaningful close friends have saved me. The poem was given to me by a dear friend who came across the poem sent it to me and i look at it everyday. It helped us both in a time of sorrow and sadness. The Weaver I’m sure helped many people see differently in anyone’s plan & pain in life. Blessings always. Ellie .

  5. Beautiful, needed poem. This poem inspires us to trust the Lord through every difficult moment in our lives, to understand that He is there with us through everything giving us strength and loving us no matter what. All of the refinements He allows us to endure make us stronger in our faith, growing to be more Christlike every moment.

  6. Hi Abbey,
    Thanks for the CorrieTenBoom.jpg URL. I had received a plaque from my ‘Favorite Hebrew-Christian author friend, Ruth Specter Lascelle’. I don’t know where she got her hand-created work, but here we are. If you are interested, I’d be happy to send the Apache Open Office (*.odt) documentary I created, and a picture of the plaque Evangelist Ruth Lascelle had given me. I got to typeset 11 of her textbooks where she taught in the North-End of Seattle, for 23 years. moc.liamg@30spopatosennim.

  7. I see it’s been 7 years since your post, but for the future, essiac tea is the real cure. Cancer is an extreme case of toxemia. If you reply, I can provide a bit more of a detail of information.
    Shalom.

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