This Past Week I Went Up To Visit Oscar Norris. ...

This past week I went up to visit Oscar Norris. Oscar, who is blind, has been keeping really busy. He lives with his niece who loves to quilt and weave. Everything is made truly by hand. She makes her own dyes from nature. She takes wool from sheep and spins her own yarn. In years past Oscar has woven cane-bottom chairs and done weaving on traditional looms. He helps his niece now and I was curious about how he was doing.

The secret is, of course, that Oscar doesn’t need to see, he only needs to become familiar with the tools he uses and follow the routine and pattern to produce beautiful work. His niece sets everything up and Oscar simply throws the shuttle back and forth and works the pedals and a rug is made. It is time consuming but the finished product is worth it.

It’s funny how much families are like a piece of fabric. They are intricately woven together but it doesn’t take much to mar them. A stain here, a picked place there, a little unraveling and frayed around the edges and the beauty fades. People would say mom is the crucial thread that holds it all together…and they certainly work the hardest. But the truth is, God’s precepts and principles are what holds the family together.