This parable told by Jesus, The Great Gardener’s Son, can be found in Matthew 9:16, Mark 2:21, and Luke 5:36. You may want to read there also to get a more complete perspective, though Pearl gives a great perspective as you will see.

“Well now,” chirruped Pearl, “Let me fluff my feathers and settle in, because this tale is stitched close to my heart.

“You see, I know a thing or two about mending old garments. I make my own costumes—little cloaks and kerchiefs—from scraps of cloth brought to me by the Songbirds of the Living Library. They flutter in with bits of memory: faded velvet from a grandmother’s chair, linen from a baptismal gown, even a threadbare patch from a choir robe. I stitch them together with care, but I’ve learned something important along the way.

“One morning, while sorting through a basket of offerings, I found a dazzling piece of new cloth—bright as sunrise, strong as hope. I thought, “Oh! This will fix the tear in my old work apron.” But when I sewed it on, the new cloth tugged and strained against the old. The apron tore worse than before. I blinked at the damage, then clucked softly, remembering what Jesus once said about how no one puts a piece of new unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.

“And I say this in my own little white hen way: This wasn’t just talking about sewing. It was about hearts. About how new life—real, radiant, Spirit-filled life—can’t be stitched onto old ways without causing strain.

When the Songbirds bring me cloth, I ask: ‘Is this for mending, or for making something new?’ And sometimes, I let the old one go, and I make something new entirely. One that fits the season. One that sings with the Spirit.”

You can’t patch grace onto fear,

or joy onto bitterness,

or resurrection onto rules.

The new must be welcomed whole, not pieced in.

When you have lived as long as I have you learn that it’s much easier to molt the old feathers and grow out entirely new feathers. Don’t try to stick the old feathers back on. You’ll never survive the winter chills!

“Bok bok. Amen.”

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Please stay with us as Pearl explains in her own chicken voice each parable. There are almost 40 in all, so we will send them out as soon as we have them ready to post which is more frequent than we had planned or announced.

Thanks to all of our Friends, Family, and Fans for reading, liking, and sharing! We will keep you in our prayers!

Sincerely,

John and Pearl, (with fond memories of Gracie, Bessie, Blanche, Emily, and Amelia) and our newest Little Buddy, Ernest (who is still patrolling after “The Great Opossum Incident”)