Folds - and Life Questions

I was blown away by "Between the Folds," a 54-minute documentary about origami. Ah, but don't let that stop you from reading further! You have NEVER seen origami until you have seen this film.

The experience that turned me onto origami in a minimal way happened in the 1980s. It was the height of tensions between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Both countries were amassing huge numbers of nuclear weapons. The congregation for which I was working at the time joined other congregations around the United States and worked to achieve the goal of making 2,000 paper cranes as a symbol of our wish for peace between the nations. These were to be mailed to the USSR. I remember teaching children how to make them - and that, basically, is the extent of my paper folding career.

But, this film shows that there are so many amazing things one can do with a single, square piece of paper - without scissors or glue. There are an infinitesimal number of things one can make with just a simple piece of paper - from the uncomplicated to the intricate.

Some origami artists can do some amazing things with 500 folds or more, turning paper into realistic looking animals or people. Others are more minimalist in style and create beautiful things with just a single fold. Others can make their creations open or close on their own. Here are just a few samples of how folding can transform a piece of paper:

From this series of simple folds....

....to this (a few more folds)...

...to this - hundreds of folds!

This documentary had me asking questions:

1. How is life like origami? Is all of life about "folds?"

2. What does this film say about creation? How do the not-so-obvious messages in the film address what it means to be the body of Christ?

3. What does this say about the church in these times? In some respects, I almost feel as though the church has allowed itself to be limited to a single square sheet of paper and has not allowed itself to be folded. And if it did allow itself to be folded, the possibilities for ways of doing ministry, for ways of being church would be limitless! What possibilities does the artist-creator "see" in the yet unfolded sheet?

Advent is a time when we look for Jesus to come again. Each day, Jesus enters our lives. Will I pay attention to the folds that Jesus is making in me? What are the folds I need to make in my ministry?

The film inspires visions - Happy folding!