In an effort to improve as a felter I am still watching videos. Not exclusively, mind you. I also pick up the needle and stab repetitively at the speed of a heartbeat. 

 

Today I heard my guru describe the contents of a kit she sells. It is for a pillow with a pair of gnomes dragging their Christmas tree through the snow. The image is crafted with wool fiber. 

 

"There are not written instructions, per se, but there is a support document."

 

What a great name. It frees her from the tediousness of such directives as "Pick up the green wool with your pointer and thumb. Hold it above the background piece. Stab 469 times, swaying left to right, forty six repetitions for each of ten branches with nine for the tip. Don't get distracted by the ping on your phone. Avoid poking your own fingers."

 

With directions as specific as that, even clear ones, the follower can still create mayhem. Just watch a six year old explain to his dad how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

 

A support document, on the other hand, does not profess to be fool proof. Reasoning and observation temper the experience. 

 

I have sometimes felt disappointed that the Bible is not more like a manual. You know those hundred page booklets that come with IKEA furniture? Who writes them? Who reads them? But there were junctures in life when I ached for specifics.... move to New Mexico.... have one more baby... don't take that job offer... start a white load now... keep your mouth shut...

 

Still I find that the stories, and lineages, and historical background are less of a play by play for my life and more of a support document. While it is unlikely that I will march around a walled city in silence, the scene has offered me clues for a relationship that had no entry point. Reading about a man confined to an ark in an endless ocean will not help me in my life as a landlubber, but it speaks to current feelings of isolation. There isn't a chance that I will be visited by an angel announcing the birth of a Baby within me, but I can say "yes" to innocence. 

 

I need to create a bridge between the page and my actions. Because it turns out that I am foolish at least some of the time.