In ancient times, during the time that the Old Testament part of the Bible was written, it was common practice to rip one’s clothes as a sign of deep emotions going on inside oneself. Usually, this was done as a sign of mourning for a lost loved one but could also be done as a result of suffering, anger, or a deep loss of some kind. It might seem like a silly thing to us to imagine but we are so removed from their culture and their time that we really don’t get the significance the same way they would have.
For me to rip a shirt of mine would be no big deal. I have like 20 more in my closet or in my dresser. That was not the case for them. An outer cloak, that they would have worn in public, was probably something the common man only had one of. He would have cleaned it regularly and the ancient Dave Ramsey philosophy would have been to save up for the next one before the first one fell apart and you had to dip into your emergency fund pouch. Rich men and kings would have had multiple robes or outer cloaks and they would have been extra fancy so that you could tell the person’s status from a long way off. There was also not a store that sold t-shirts on every corner like there is today. Each of these garments was hand made probably from wool. That means that a sheep would be shorn, the wool turned into yarn, and the cloak is painstakingly woven together. Even for an everyday man’s cloak, the process would have taken a long time. It was also labor-intensive and not a cheap process. Every craftsperson along the way took their cut of the final purchase price. I don’t know the real facts but it seems like something that you would buy once a year or maybe even every few years. People would know you from a distance by your cloak, maybe by the coffee stain shaped like Abraham Lincoln on the left shoulder or something like that.
So to rip this cloak would be no small thing. You might not have saved up yet for a new one. And even if you had you couldn’t just go to a clothing rack anywhere and get one. There might not be a person in your village that made them. You might need to travel two towns over and then if you were me you would have to wait for them to custom make one or add a foot to the bottom of one they were in the process of making. Even if you chose to sew and repair the cloak you ripped you would need to buy yarn, hopefully, something that remotely matched the color, and then spend the time sewing it back. The patch would never match the sun fading or that goat cheese stain that looked like Ghengis Khan. It would always be obvious where the rip was.
Details aside the point was that it couldn’t be undone, covered up, or replaced quickly once you tore your robe. For some biblical examples of times, when this happened check out Job 1:1:18-22. Job’s 10 kids were killed in a building collapse and he “tore his robe” in grief. Also, look at 2 Samuel 1:11-12, or Genesis 37:29, 34-35 for another example. Joel 2:13 uses the imagery to communicate the spiritual principle of keeping a broken heart before God.
This imagery has been powerful to me at many times in my life. I believe that God often resides in the ragged edges of our torn clothes, or more correctly the ragged edges of our torn hearts (thanks Joel for the metaphor!). I know that God is everywhere all the time, this is not a statement of theology but of imagery, a helpful picture because of some of those ancient details.
When we have “Ragged Edges” in our lives or in our hearts they are sometimes pretty obvious. God is not a God of cover-ups and masks. He knows we are suffering and the pain we are experiencing. But often so do the people around us, no matter how well we try to patch things up or sew them back together. If we do that in our own strength or try to hide our grief it will still show up. If we cover our rips and tears skillfully maybe it can’t be seen from a distance, but to the skilled craftsperson, they would always be able to see. When our hearts are torn in grief it isn’t something that can be mended overnight, it might take multiple trips to multiple yarn shops to find the right patch. Or if the pain is big enough we might have to save our money and wait for the sheep to be shorn and the wool to be spun. We might have those torn clothes for a while. God does not mind this process and the length it takes. He lives in the “Ragged Edges” and gives us the time we need to heal. He knows how deep the hurt is to us because he knows us each so well. He is there with us in our sorrow and our grief, not always fixing it instantly, because He wants to live in those rips and tears. If for no other reason than that He is close to us and if we are looking for Him we can feel Him in the most painful parts of our lives.
The picture of a tear in our clothes or hearts that God lives in also is such a great analogy for grief because there is an endpoint. If we let God do His mending or healing work then there will be a day when the garment is fixed. Either that or there will be a day when the new cloak arrives from the weaver. Sometimes we are silly and we keep wearing our old robes the ones filled with hurt and tears while the new one sits on the shelf. But if we are walking closely with our loving God I think we will be happy to put on the new robe. Maybe we will even shed a tear when the old one is thrown away because the memory of God being so close and residing in those rips will have turned into a special joy, a joy seasoned with hard things and only able to exist because God was so near.
Once again this is an imagery and not a theology but I hope the picture of God living in the Ragged Edges that we all carry around from time to time can bless you. Know that God is with you, very near and close if you have pain in your heart. Also, let’s choose to be compassionate to those grieving around us. When they can’t hide the rips and tears let’s remind them that we have them too and that God is the great fixer of all things. Let’s remind them that God is near to them because He lives in the Ragged Edges of our lives and hearts.
Will
Pastor of Connection and Care