Have you ever walked a path that you walk every day and felt the lightest touch of something on your face? And even if you bring your hand up to brush it away, it seems like nothing is there? Tiny filaments of webs are spun from tree branch to tree branch–a suspended bridge connecting home and food sources for some little spider.
One bright morning at breakfast I was looking out the window and noticed a shimmering line of light by the front yard trees.
The light moved in the breeze and sometimes disappeared.
The sunlight was reflecting off a strand of dew-kissed web–a happy combination of water, filament, light, and wind. The sunlight danced along the spider’s road, moving one way, then the other…
until the sun moved higher in the sky, and I could no longer see the reflection. But the web was still there.
What if we are all connected by some unseen web? We feel light touches of this attachment when we pick up the phone to call someone and they were just thinking of doing the same. Do we brush it off as coincidence? We see the connection illuminated by the shiny glare of tragedy that brings people together to rescue, support, and fight for one another. We sense the shimmer of connection when meeting the eyes of a stranger and some spark ignites a smile. We hear that association when one person’s story sounds strangely familiar to ours, and our heart knows the ache they feel.
Perhaps the shimmering line of light that dances between us is God’s Love. It connects us in ways that are unseen for the most part–until a happy combination illuminates the bond. How fleeting is that illumination! Our positions change, outside forces exert pressure on the connection, and at times it feels torn and broken. Harsh words and strained silence tear at the bridge that was once a lifeline of Home and Sustenance.
The persistent spider rebuilds the web–even as we walk the path each day. Some things are worth it. As we toil, we must remember that the shimmering line of light is always there, whether we see it or not.
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