a tenuous life

Through the essays in Makoto Fujimura's Refractions (see: What Should We Then Read? Kelli's Good Reads list), I have learned a small bit about Japanese culture. One of the pieces speaks about the traditional craft of paper making.  He describes the strength and durability of this special 'Cloud Skin' as coming from the weaving together of layers and the purity of the natural products needed.  The delicacy and fragility of these materials are vulnerable but develop strength and beauty through the process.

It made me ponder the layers of a life and...
- the character that is developed through careful attention, layered through the process of becoming more like Christ (sanctification).  We too are vulnerable, where our layers are weak perhaps.  Though I practice and am watchful over those habits of virtue (more this week on Charlotte Mason and habits), I am not a master craftsman, my skills are not tenuous. Regardless of the virtue I attempt to layer;  I am a fallen image-barer and am prone to wander, to rely on myself alone. Truly, it is the "totoro-aoi (a type of hibiscus plant used to facilitate mixing the fibers)"-the GRACE that allows the ultimate beauty of a life lived for God's glory.