This week it snowed in the deserts of the Southwest.  When I heard the news about the snows I reflected upon my own years living where desert storms happen.  Growing up in the desert Southwest, I was exposed to lots of Native American literature, art, and rugs. The Navajos are fascinating people and one of the most interesting characteristics of Navajos is that they frequently did not complete things, whether it was a basket, a blanket, a song, or a story.  It is not because they were lazy, it was because they never wanted anything to be too perfect.

If something was too close ended or perfect, they believed it cramped the spirit of the creator and sapped the energy of life away.  When Navajos created anything, they often would leave little gaps or imperfections in their work. To them, perfection was suffocation.  

It is amazing what Navajos did when they made beautiful blankets.  When creating them, they frequently left a slight imperfection in the weaving.  Often this took the form of a single thread that originated from the center of the blanket and extended all the way to the edge.  The Navajos called this imperfection in their blankets a spirit thread or spirit outlet. They believed such a thread gives the creator room to breathe and to create and serves as a reminder that only God is perfect.

Perhaps that is how God designed us.  Beautiful, yet imperfect. And maybe God made us this way so that we would have room for Him.  Room for Him to act in our lives. Room to create, to transform, to guide, to lead, and to heal. Room not so much for predictability, but surprise.    

Maybe He created us as beautiful, yet imperfect beings so that we would hopefully come to the place that we realize that we need a savior.  And maybe He created us as beautiful, yet imperfect so that we would learn to give other people a break and to lighten up with our expectations.    

Perhaps all of this is an invitation for us to pause for a moment and think about the fact that you and I both are like a Navajo blanket. Beautiful, yet imperfect, just as God made us.  

Like those blankets, we too have a spirit thread coming from the center of who we are. A thread that reminds us not only of who we are, but who it is that put us together.  I pray that that that thread, our imperfections, help us remember that Jesus Christ is not finished with us yet, nor anyone else who annoys us with their imperfections.

And let us all remember as one person said, “Jesus comes not for the super-spiritual but for the wobbly and the weak-kneed who know they don’t have it all together, and who are not too proud to accept the handout of amazing grace.”