Not Nice or Knot Nice
Not Nice or Knot Nice
[Editor’s Note: This is a guest story by contributor June Windle Bare. June is so great with metaphors — if you read her last post, Spiritual Garbage Disposal, you’ll know what I mean! This devotional might make you re-evaluate some “knots” in your life!]
My favorite necklace! How in the world can I get this knot untied? If I attempt to wear it without taking the knot loose, my neck will get sore. It will drive me nuts. And it won’t hang at the right place on my neck. The chain on this necklace is a very delicate, fine-gauge gold chain with a lovely heart pendant. My sweetie gave it to me, and I want to wear it to please him.
I work the knot out. It takes time, patience, eye strain, and a challenge to my arthritic fingers. I work at it for seemingly a life-time until” Eureka!” it comes loose.
As I look at it against my neck, I reflect on the knots and the “nots” in my relationships with other people. Why should I bother? Why encourage a relationship with others who are “not” my faith, my family, my friends? They are not my style, not the kind of necklace I want to hang around my neck. Why should I care? But those “nots” are like the many knots on a fragile chain that links people together.
I think of a woman down the street, who calls me every so often to tell me about the problems in her life and remind me I am a praying woman. She ties up my phone and my plans for so long I worry my ear will fall off. As I think of her, I try to call. No answer. I leave a nice message, but do I hope she won’t call back, and let someone else unravel her knots? But I do care.
I think of my friend who, because of aging concerns, has been sidelined. She has dropped so many of her interests in the church and her social life. Should I offer to do something with her, or just let that knot alone? I call and offer to take her to lunch and to visit another friend in worse condition than she is. She is delighted. Me too. A knot untied.
I think of a relative—well, the widow of a relative. I am the one who always initiates the call or sends the card. Why bother? She never gives me the time of day unless she wants something. Why not drop that knotty chain to the bottom of the box? No, I will try to pick that knot apart, too. I write a note, telling her of family things. I hope she writes back.
A visit, a phone call or a letter may be one way to untie the knots, but what about an e-mail, a text, an emoji as a response to someone’s Facebook posts? These efforts seem so impersonal. Why not spend a few minutes commenting on their post with a word of encouragement? This may be the only way to engage the nots and the knots. Cannot God use any reasonable means to connect us in His greater family? And then sometimes the only way—and the first way—to loosen a knot is to pray for the “nots.”
I am reminded of St. Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians 12: 24-26 (NLT):
God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
I want to be “knot” nice.
June is a retired nurse, poet, and widow, living in southern Georgia. Now in her eighties, she remains active in her local church. Among other church responsibilities, she teaches a Sunday school class of her peers. She writes a weekly blog on Facebook, entitled “Monday Musings.” Prior to moving to Georgia, she was a regular contributor to “The Watauga Democrat” newspaper, and “All About Women,” a monthly magazine, both in Boone, North Carolina.
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