(article published in The Journal newspaper August 3, 2006)

It was so small and nearly transparent that I almost didn’t see it. But there it was, a tiny Daddy-Long-Legged-like creature quietly spinning its web across the corner baseboards of my bathroom. Perhaps because I live alone and it felt like company, or by chance some seed of generosity for its life took root in my heart, or maybe because I was just fascinated that one so small would have the boldness to set up house so near my feet as I sat there doing my business – for whatever reason, I allowed it to stay.

And stay, it did. As I made my trips to the bathroom throughout the day, I studied this other life so still and quiet in its gossamer abode. “What sustains it, Lord?” There was no visible evidence that its basic needs could be possibly met in this isolated corner of the universe. Yet, with each passing day, my spider friend grew. Soon its body became a little bigger, darker, and definitely more discernible. Not only that, “bug dirt,” appeared on the floor beneath its web. Amazing! It seemed that all this spider had to do was wait until some tiny gnat dropped into its web. It reminded me of James1:17a, “Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens.”

Is this what faith is like? Do we quietly wait until God drops down from heaven above the good and perfect gifts that we need to sustain us? Yes, in a way that is true. After all, God’s greatest gift, His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ was sent from heaven above. Through faith in Jesus, our Lord, we have all that we need to sustain us; we have salvation and the promise of eternal life (Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”). God’s blessings, God’s gifts of grace drop into our lives daily.

How may we really get a hold of God’s blessings in our lives, to really live as a blessed people? Like my spider friend, we must spin a web of grace. With the thread of faith we weave a pattern of worship, prayer, Bible study, and fellowship with others. We strengthen the web with loving deeds and acts of justice. We bind up the frayed, worn out, and torn threads with forgiveness and reconciliation. Our web of grace glistens in the Son-light, and we wait quietly and with joy for the salvation of our Lord (Lamentations 3:26 “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”). As we wait, may we grow in God’s grace and share God’s love!