Living in the Spirit
September 14, 2015
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 31:10-31
A capable wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant,
she brings her food from far away.
She rises while it is still night
and provides food for her household
and tasks for her servant-girls.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. –Proverbs 31:10-16
My brother, sister, and I asked that Proverbs 31 be read at my mother’s memorial service. It faithfully describes her. She made most of our clothing including my father’s tailored suits. She was never happier than when she was in a vegetable garden. Most I think thought she grew up on a farm where we lived, but not true, she was a town girl. Her dad worked in the local general store. Later after he suffered a debilitating stroke, her mother worked at a canning factory.
She was also a deaconess in the Methodist church during the Great Depression serving first in south Texas along the border and later in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. She learned to sew and garden as a child; she strengthened those skills facing the abject poverty, racism, and injustice that plagued the people with whom she worked as she became the hands and feet of Christ in her home mission areas. I always thought she preferred to craft a dress for my sister and me from hand-me-downs rather from new cloth. She was educated as a math teacher and she liked the challenge of arranging patterns across odd sizes of material salvaged from those old clothing. I know she mastered the art of quilt making from turning fancy taffeta dresses donated from churches into warm comforters for people who had little or no heat in the winter. She would grin a bit when telling us stories wondering if the original owners of the clothing knew how the clothing had been used.
Prayer: Holy One, guide us through this scripture to see ways of being that complement the work of your Son, Jesus, the Christ, and make the completion of this work a joy for us and for you. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
