Breath of My BelovedSample

Behold I Make All Things New.

During a season when I had very little mental and spiritual strength, I was on a prayer walk and noticed an email on my phone inviting me to a Sashiko workshop at our local coffee shop. It was a workshop teaching the art of Japanese garment and fabric repair. I just knew in my spirit that I had to attend.

At the workshop, we were all given a piece of fabric that was torn or frayed and a second piece of fabric to lay under it. In its simplest form, Sashiko is the sewing technique that can be used to repair and embellish fabric and garments. Sewing by hand in geometrical patterns using a running stitch gives the fabric its sustainability, strength, and beauty despite the imperfection. There was also a selection of colored threads to choose from. It is similar to the Kintsugi technique of repairing objects with gold.

In the New Testament, there are two words for "new’; Neos - new in time, young, recent, and Kainos - new in quality and nature. As I was sewing I had a revelation of Fathers’ Character and Nature. Through His Sovereignty He was able to take what was worn out and make it kainos; give it His Strength so that it would have a new quality of existence. He says, ‘Behold, I make all things new’, not that I make all new things. He had breathed His Breath into me once, and now He was going to restore me, not recreate me. Like the cloth in the workshop, I was worn out, so He lovingly took me and through His Kindness, Love, and Affection I was resurrected.

The interesting thing about this technique is that it is a visible mend. In ancient times, a garment repaired with Sashiko could be passed down from generation to generation. Each new patch had a story. When I think about the clouds of witnesses that went before us, the faithful saints like Abraham, Moses, and David all wore "patches". Their lives had at one point or another been repaired and restored all for the Glory of God. He brings beauty from ashes through His Breath, which is His Restorative and Loving Nature.