The Weaver
Bert Ramsey was killed in 1943 when his B-26 medium bomber collided with another aircraft during a low-level attack on a power plant in Holland. A Dutch family buried him there, and his parents later held a memorial service at home in his honor. The service was conducted on November 25, 1945, at the Statesboro, Georgia, Methodist Church. After the congregation sang “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” The Reverend Charles Jackson prayed and gave a sermon. A series of tributes to Ramsey and poems to comfort the family were then read. Mrs. Sanford Schulert, whose husband had been killed in the same raid, recited a poem with a special message for the grieving family:272
My life is but a weaving Between my Lord and me.
I cannot choose the colors He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper and I the underside.
Not til the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver In the pattern He has planned.
This well-known poem provides a unique insight into our relationship with God. God interacts with us as we pray, study, and work together with him to weave the pattern of our lives. This weaving process presents an issue of perspective. Ours is limited by our human nature as we experience events only as they affect us. God’s perspective is all encompassing and eternal. A tragedy to us may simply be part of God’s plan and even a cause for heavenly celebration. We need to rest in the assurance that God sees the completed tapestry as it unfolds according to his design.
This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call my name and I will answer them; I will say, “They are my people,” and they will say, “The Lord is our God.”
—Zechariah 13:9