The Three Weavers ~ Annie Fellows Johnston

This short analysis of the book was written by a lady called Rebekah, who I give full credit to - being too lazy and idle to write a small description myself. :P

"A "fairy" tale about three daughters and their fathers. At the birth of each of the girls, they are given a loom and golden thread on which to weave their ideals of the prince who will come for them, for a prince will come for each girl. The looms grow as the girls do, but their fathers have different responses to the looms.

One father laughs about it, and teases his daughter as she weaves about her thoughts of young men. She fancies many boys, and gives them the mantles she weaves. However, her standard was not that of the prince, and when he came for her, the mantle of her ideals did not fit him, and he went away.

Another father hides the loom, and she finds out about it from the previous girl. When she asks her father about it, he becomes angry, and tells her she is too young to be thinking of weaving on her loom. But her friend was weaving, so she wove and daydreamed in secret. She notices a page outside her window, and imagines him to be a prince. So she weaves her ideals to fit him, and gives the mantle to him. When her prince comes, her father decides to teach her how to weave an ideal of a true prince, to find that she has woven in her own way, and given her mantle away. She has nothing left to weave with, and the prince goes away.

The third girl hears about her loom, and asks her father. He teaches her how to weave, and gives her the yardstick by which to measure a true prince. As she weaves, she measures her ideals and dreams by the yardstick. Many young men come, but although she likes them, none measure to the stature of a prince.
When finally the prince does come, the mantle she has woven had not been given away, and fitted him "in all faultlessness, as the falcon's feathers fit the falcon." And he took her away, and they lived happily ever after. "


Standards.

Does he seek after God with all his heart?
Does he strive to honour God and seek His glory in all he does?
Does he love his neighbour as himself?
Does he put his comfort and security before that of those around him?

...do we?

A servant's heart is required of both. A heart after Christ. A heart to serve each other, and everyone else out of the overflowing.

Do I strive to follow God with all my heart?
Do I seek God's glory and honour in all I say, sing, walk, think, do?
Do I put my own comfort and security before those around me?
Do I love my neighbour as myself?

I'm ashamed to say I have, do and am failing in each one.
What about you?

Remember when you're looking at a potential partner for life...it's not only how much he or she strives after God. It's how much you are.

I'm single. I won't say much more for fear of presuming to say too much where many much wiser than I have trod.

Now, as far as the following goes, I am NOT telling people to not strive to be pure. Or if you're pure, that it doesn't matter. It does. Way more than I can say. As Christ is, so we ought to strive to be. He became sin for us that He might raise us up to His standard of purity - that we might be pure through His forgiveness and His righteousness.
If you're still pure - thank God on your knees for it! Value it greatly. Keep hold of it with fear and trembling for it is oh, so easy to lose.


I loved this book, although now I'm somewhat older I do have a small quarrel to pick - which goes along with my old lost story of the Jewels.

The prince that would leave a truly repentant, God-humbled girl striving for better is no noble, only a Pharisee. A pure woman that would leave a sin-stained but truly, God-humbled, repentant man that is aiming for purity forgets that she is the same as the harlot before God.

Forget your pride.

We are all equal at the foot of the cross. :)


In Christ,
~Mademoiselle Siân