Inspired by lyrics to “The Grand Design” by Greg Tamblyn:
“After all these years, I’m startin’ to see we’re all threads in a tapestry,
Woven together, your life and mine, ‘till our hearts and roads are intertwined.
The road of life may lead us far from where we all begin, but sooner or later,
The hands of time weave us back in to the Grand Design.
Out on life’s highway, we feel alone, as every bend leads us further from home.
Our path divides, we take our chances, and pray our loved ones will understand us.
Which way to go we don’t always know, so we navigate by heart.
But in time, we come to learn that every road is part of the Grand Design….
We could rise up high, see the long road, how far we’ve come and where we’ll go,
See how our pathway crosses the others, we know how much we need each other.
In this living tapestry, each thread is someone’s road
And one day from a higher place, we may know the Grand Design.
It’s something I believe and now I find it comforts me. I’ve come to love the mystery.
The Grand Design is with us all along, a last goodbye, a newborn’s song,
And in the end, we all belong, to the Grand Design.”
Responsive Reading for September 11
“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me” (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
We’re all threads in a tapestry, woven together, your life and mine, ‘till our hearts and roads are intertwined. The road of life may lead us far from where we all begin, but sooner or later, the hands of time weave us back in to the Grand Design.
“Then David gave to his son Solomon the design of the portico and of the house itself . . . He provided also the design for all else that he had in mind by way of courts for the house of the Lord . . . . All this he wrote down, by the hand of the Lord, to make him understand it—the working out of the whole design. Then David said to his son Solomon: ‘Be strong and steadfast, and go to work; do not fear or be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or abandon you’” (I. Chron.28:11-20).
Out on life’s highway, we feel alone, as every bend leads us further from home. Our path divides, we take our chances and pray our loved ones will understand us. Which way to go, we don’t always know, so we navigate by heart. But, in time, we come to learn that every road is part of the Grand Design.
“The Lord foils the plan of nations, frustrates the designs of peoples. But the plan of the Lord stands forever, the designs of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:10-11).
We could rise up high, see the long road, how far we’ve come and where we’ll go,
See how our pathway crosses the others, we know how much we need each other.
In this living tapestry, each thread is someone’s road. And one day from a higher place, we may know the Grand Design.
“O Lord, you are my God, I extol you, I praise your name; for you have carried out your wonderful plans of old, faithful and true . . . . For you have been a refuge . . . . Shelter from the rain, shade from the heat.. . . . On that day it will be said: ‘Indeed, this is our God; we looked to him, and he saved us! This is the Lord to whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”(Isaiah 25:1-9).
It’s something I believe and now I find it comforts me. I’ve come to love the mystery. The Grand Design is with us all along, a last goodbye, a newborn’s song and, in the end, we all belong to the Grand Design.