“When he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
1 Samuel 18:1 (RSV)
The Bible describes the friendship between David and Jonathan as “soul knit to soul”. David had a closer relationship with Jonathan than he had with his own seven biological brothers. Besides having siblings, David and Jonathan both had wives and families of their own, and yet their friendship was so special, that it formed an eternal bond. Their “soul knit to soul” relationship can occur between two people, whether they are friends, spouses, siblings or a parent/child relationship.
I can imagine that Jesus and His mother, Mary, shared this type of bond, and that their souls were also “knit together,” according to the bible’s terminology. I can imagine it because I had a “soul knit to soul” relationship with my own mother.
After she retired, my mom sold her home in Illinois and moved to the warm sunshine state of California, where my older brother, his family and her first grandchild lived. The geographic distance between us never changed the bond between us. We visited each other yearly, and spoke on the phone every other day. A few times, when I was going through a problem or a difficult situation, before ever telling my mother anything, she would either have a dream about it or receive a strong premonition to call me. When she was dying and became unresponsive, she waited for me, until I was at her side and then breathed her last. I believe that our souls were knit together, just like David and Jonathan’s.
I once recognized knit souls like this between two elderly sisters, my friend’s mother and aunt, (her mother’s sister). When Wendy’s aunt passed away at 95, I attended her funeral. I shared my condolences with Wendy and her relatives, and then walked over to talk to her mother, who was grieving for her only sister. They were the closest pair of sisters I’ve ever known, totally inseparable throughout their lives, even into their mid 90’s. Their souls were knit together like David and Jonathan.
Wendy’s mother was now sitting at her only sister’s funeral, crying while tenderly holding a framed photo on her lap, caressing and stroking her sister’s face in the picture. I couldn’t get that heartbreaking scene out of my head, and I remember praying for her for weeks afterward.
As sometimes happens with “knit souls”, Wendy’s mom, the surviving sister, died suddenly only three weeks later. It was all so strange since I had been praying for her since seeing her grieve at her sister’s funeral that day. Three weeks later, I was attending her funeral.
As I was thinking about all these knit souls, I realized that it’s a gift from God, since He is the prototype of every “soul knit to soul” relationship. God the Father always was and is infinitely knit together with Jesus, His Son.
Knit souls are gifts from God that He shares with His creation. He gave it to David and Jonathan, the two elderly sisters, to my mother and me, and to multitudes of others, since the creation of the world. Many who are reading this may be thinking about a particular “soul knit to soul” pair, whether it be souls knit between spouses, parent/child, siblings, or close friends.
We only need to look at the Trinity, to see that God is the originator of all souls knit together. It gives us a taste of what God the Father and Jesus have infinitely always shared together. Now He wants to include us in their relationship.
Here is what Jesus said to His Father, about us:
“I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
(John 17:26)
Jesus is the One who helps us to know God, His Father. He makes His Father known to us in ways that God has never been made known before. He does it so that the love that the Father and Son share together may now live in our hearts. Through Jesus, our souls are knit to God.
Lord, thank you for the gift of knitting souls together and for the greatest gift of all, Jesus, who has eternally knits our souls to God. Amen
