The easiest and shortest route isn’t always the best path out of trouble. When I want to change negative behavior, I start out trying really hard; but when my effort meets resistance, I tend to go back to old habits.
I removed all the excess heddles left from the warp rep rug. 2,760 heddles, reduced to 274. We want to improve, making positive changes in our behavior, but are we willing to remove the heddles that supported our old ways? The heddles that once served us well are now in the way. It’s silly, but we keep some of the familiar old ways, just in case we want to go back into trouble…
In the ancient story about rescuing people from slavery in Egypt, God chose a path for the escaping Israelites that was indirect, irreversible, and impossible. God opened up the Red Sea for the people to cross, and then closed it back up. He essentially eliminated a return route to captivity. If we let him, I’m sure he’ll close off our return route, too. It may be not be the easiest path, but freedom is never easy, is it?
May you find courage to leave old ways behind for good.
(I can hardly wait until Friday to show you what I’m weaving now! Hint: It has to do with Rosepath–my favorite Scandinavian motif.)
This leads me to meditate on Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” And also to what I am studying in Isaiah, when the Israelites’ default mode (chapters 30 & 31) was to “go down to Egypt” for help rather than going to God. Excellent advice, Karen, “remove the heddles”.
You said: “The heddles that once served us well are now in the way.” I find this very interesting. Since they served you well during a particular phase of your process they had a purpose and a place in your life at that time. But they are definitely not going to be useful in your next project…and to me, this is the interesting part: We are constantly facing a blank slate. Every day is a new beginning, every person we meet is unique, nothing in nature is an identical copy of something else, every project we take on is different from the previous, even when it appears to be identical. Life is very dynamic, there is constant change, we don’t know anything about tomorrow or even the rest of the day.
What if we were able to face every new day, every new person, every new project with an open mind, and let the “heddles” from yesterday become “wisdom building blocks” instead of supporters of old habits?
I love your bright perspective, Elizabeth!
“We are constantly facing a blank slate.” I’m so glad we get to keep learning and growing. Our old habits don’t have to define us, especially when we “let the ‘heddles’ from yesterday become ‘wisdom building blocks.'”
Now, that’s a beautiful thought!