Back when I lived in Morocco one of my favorite things to do was visit the medina* and watch people working on the looms, as they expertly crafted together a vivid tapestry of vibrant colors and patterns with their hand-dyed threads. Their feet against the age-worn wooden slats in the dusty heat, moving the shuttle of brilliant, dyed yarn back and forth. Click clack. Click clack.
These weavers worked one row at a time, a painstakingly slow and intricate process, that resulted in a magnificent display of patterns and colors. Their handiwork lined the mudbrick walls of their shops displaying their masterful art from floor to ceiling.
Would the finished product of these tapestries look as beautiful if they were identical in color and design? Possibly. But what struck me about those shops in Morocco was the beauty in variation of texture, color, and pattern craft—fully interwoven.
The Expert Weaver
In my meditation on the topic of unity, God brought my mind back to those weavers in Morocco. These tapestries display, as with human unity, true beauty in the harmonious dance of contrast.
God, the expert Weaver, is creating for Himself a great tapestry built not of thread but of people, people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Unity and diversity intertwined, interlaced, and unified—built from the children He created. A magnanimous symphony of ethnicity and culture, maximizing the glory He receives, because unity in diversity is more beautiful and more profound than the unity of uniformity.
Reflect with me what the song of heaven will sound like one day, a multitude of believers singing joyous songs of praise, each with their unique voices and songs. Songs played on instruments, sung in various different languages, with different tempos and pitch, blending together in praise of the King. All of this precious unity blood—bought by the Lamb, the ultimate design for his people. One diverse body. One chosen race. One royal priesthood. One holy nation. One treasured possession. One family.
So, let us each continue to prepare our own hearts to celebrate the diversity of all the families of the Earth unified in the heavenly worship of the Lamb by learning to embrace here and now our brothers and sisters from across culture, linking arms and united in Spirit.
*ancient walled city commonly found in North Africa or the Middle East
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