With my warm, woolen, woven scarf completed, I have begun a new weaving project, building on the knowledge I gained while making the winter scarf, this time using different fiber, different techniques and different equipment to make a delicate, light-weight shawl. This item will be worked on a loom that involves some different operating principles to achieve the same goal as the first loom I used. What I learned while working on the Schacht Baby Wolf jack loom will serve as a basis for the knowledge I will acquire while weaving on a Louet countermarch loom. I won’t be starting completely over, but instead will learn where the new knowledge intertwines with the old, and how to draw on both for the benefit of the newest endeavor.

Life is like that in general, and I’m finding internship to be that way in particular. I brought with me a certain way of doing ministry that I had learned in the congregation in which I was active in Ohio. Through my participation in many areas of the church, I learned how things were done in Trinity Lutheran Church in Willard. Now I’m taking a larger role in the ministry of the church here at Christ Lutheran Church in Dallas. Some things are similar, some are very different, some are brand new, some don’t exist here. Through it all runs the common thread of worship and service, the ultimate goals of whatever we do in the body of Christ. I am learning to use my previous knowledge as a strong foundational warp through which I can weave a new weft.

The message is the same, the goal is the same, but the way we get to them is not the same. It doesn’t need to be. Many paths lead to the same destination. The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9 that “I have become all things to all people.” He’s referring to his willingness to fit in with the culture and customs of those around him in order to share the gospel with them. A willingness to adapt to different ways of doing things opens the possibility of connecting with those to whom these different ways are important and for whom the old ways won’t work.

We don’t change the message and we don’t change the goal. But we can change the materials, the techniques, the equipment, building on the knowledge and experiences of the past and patiently weaving together new information and ideas that will better suit the current circumstances. For the sake of the Gospel, we, like Paul, can become “all things to all people,” as we change and adapt to conform to the needs of the church in the world today.

Blessings—Intern Kathy