Appalachian Tapestry

In The Tapestry Edith Schaeffer uses the analogy of our life being a thread to tell the story of L'Abri. (L’Abri was Francis and Edith's home in Switzerland where disillusioned youth of the 60’s came to sort through the Scriptural worldview of absolutes and the predominate worldview of existential relativism.) She points out that in community we affect each other’s ideas, understandings and attitudes as our lives are woven together into a tapestry. This influence is powerfully true from those who make up our ancestry and immediate family.

Our recent visit to Tennessee serves to remind me that I am woven in an Appalachian Tapestry. I like cornbread, mountains, folk music, dogs and extended family. A trip back usually means visits with uncles, aunts and cousins. Stereotypical I guess. Isolated by the mountains over past generations, we in Appalachia became fiercely independent (rebels some would say), church going, country loving and simple living people with just a bit of fatalism sprinkled in. For my part, I can’t get around the fact that I have been shaped by these roots.

Something else I can’t get around is the German background of my surname (Harer) and the Scottish background of my mother’s maiden name (Barnes). Dad’s family came from Pennsylvania to bring the Gospel while Mom’s family was born to the land. These two families meshed together to create the atmosphere of my life. A dynamic full of history, stories, lives and experiences both good and bad. As with all our family backgrounds, it’s a picture of everyday heroes and down to earth strugglers.

We are all caught up in the weaving influence of our tapestry. Think about your own family: What made your family laugh together? How was conflict handled in your family? Tensions? When did you hear, “I love you” or “I’m proud of you”? What activities did your family enjoy? What was considered “success” in your family? How was money handled? How was spirituality expressed?

Honest answers to those questions and others like them bring clarity to my life, to our lives - helping us see and understand why we do some of the things we do, why we react the way we do and why we have certain attitudes. And it makes me wonder, what does the weaving of your tapestry look like?