The Grace of Invisible Strands

Tuesday​​, December 6, 2022

But, today, the idea of faith returns to me. Faith defies logic and propels us beyond hope because it is not attached to our desires. Faith is the centerpiece of a connected life. It allows us to live by the grace of invisible strands. It is a belief in a wisdom superior to our own. Faith becomes a teacher in the absence of fact.
― Terry Tempest Williams, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
 
Reading is one of my most favorite things. It starts with the notion of story and then moves on from there. Reading is setting-aside-time. Settling in with a book is releasing whatever the “it” was that was before. And somehow reading holds all of time – it was written before I picked it up, the words come alive for me with each word read and the story will continue long after I put down the book. Reading is entering into something that is bigger and deeper and so much wiser than me. Reading is opening myself to what’s new and maybe what’s next. It represents the possibility of stretching beyond.
 
It was a real chore to pack my books for my move from Georgia to California. [Well, truth be told the whole packing experience was arduous, but that’s for another day and another writing…] Most of my books have come to feel like old friends. I bet my fellow packers more than once wondered why I was taking books I’d already read, but I think in their heart of hearts, they understood. They understood that these books had companioned me this far, they might as well journey on. Stories that sat up with me late into the night. Poems that nudged my life beyond and back home again.
 
Refuge was published in 1991. That was the year I graduated from Candler, and I remember being excited about reading something that hadn’t been assigned. This is now one of the books I wished I’d kept. If just for these words of faith. Defying logic. A connected life. Living by the grace of invisible strands. Wisdom superior to our own.
 
Tempest Williams is right about the strands of grace that hold faith. Sure, there are times when I can claim my faith as being rock solid. Times I witness that rock solid faith in others. As I continue in this old, broken and wounded world I marvel at faith’s resilience. And there are other times when I feel myself holding my breath, sensing my faith’s fragility. There for Tempest Williams is grace. Grace held in place by invisible strands. Strands strong enough for this instant … and then some.
 
As I re-read my first paragraph through the lens of Tempest Williams’ words, I find myself replacing the word faith where I’d first typed reading. Substituting one word for the other:
                               Faith is one of my most favorite things. It starts with the notion
                               of story and then moves on from there. Faith is setting-aside-time….
This works for me. It feels right for this place on my journey, for these steps today and the ones following. Word-by-word, step-by-step. 

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​Prayer written by Terry Tempest Willams
I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen.