THIS PIECE OF PAPER…

 

THIS PIECE OF PAPER…

To the reader,

This piece of handcrafted paper is unique in all the world and across all time and space, throughout the observed universe.  It did not appear by chance nor happenstance: I lovingly willed and fashioned it from a harvest of living wildflowers – specifically for the sole purpose of conveying a message of love… to you. Such rarity in its form and such significance of the purpose makes this piece of paper loved by me and precious to me …

And this is just a small page of paper; YOU, on the other hand, are a living and wondering complexity, possessing both learned knowledge and descriptive language.  As a creature, you are unique in all the world and across space and time: throughout the observed universe – you alone, in your ability to wonder, to question, to answer, to believe, and to choose freely are far far beyond instinctive behaviour.  Do YOU ever question that you exist by mere chance or happenstance?  Do YOU marvel at the evident and studied improbabilities, comparative brevity, and uniqueness of human existence on this garden planet?  Were YOU willed and created?  And are YOU precious?  Can you believe YOU are truly loved?  And how will YOU discern YOUR existential purpose?

Jim Davis
Papermaker

THE PAPERMAKER

The years of careful devotion to a process of consummate chance.
To the meter of strictest timings, of a two-thousand-year old dance.
Countless hours of watching, and the study of a practiced hand,
Calm the furrowed brow and the tension in the papermaker’s glance.

The waltzing of flow and slow ebbing in the translucent film on the screen.
Soft movements of shifting and settling, the loft and its lustrous sheen.
Combining invisible strands, like past bars from the ballroom’s stand,
In a purposeful hope for perfection, from a lifetime’s love to glean.

A master’s work, nearing perfection, is always a tribute to treasure.
So, too, a child’s meager offerings are cherished beyond common measure.
Though ragged, uneven, and flawed, early sheets may seem barely planned,
Yet the Master of masters loves equally and gently whispers his pleasure.

Each life, unique in its making, imploring the quill and stain.
Each stain, unique in its purpose, recording both losses and gain.
Each message in time briefly captured: wetted prints holding court in the sand.
Tides returning is the turning of pages.
Yet, Christ’s love and redemption remain.

Jim Davis