February 24

During this morning's prayer shawl ministry gathering, one of the ladies pulled a very large, badly knotted ball of yarn from her bag. After a few minutes passed by, the woman to her left quietly began untangling one section.

A few minutes after that (and over the protestations of the unnamed owner of the snarled skein) the woman across the table put down her own work and began to work on another section of tangle.

And then a little later, after observing the collaborative effort that was happening just to my right, I too put down my own piece and joined in on the effort.

There was much laughing as we slowly but diligently worked to loosen the knots and smooth out the strands. Shortly before we successfully completed our mission, I offhandedly joked that it was like a metaphor for life.

And indeed it is: Life is filled with many challenges, but when we allow others to help us through those tough times, we all benefit from the experience. The one with the trouble gets needed assistance, and the rest of us get the gift of helping.