Recently, I attended an exhibition by the ‘Irish Patchwork Society ‘in The Botanical Gardens in Dublin. The exhibition, for me, was a prayerful experience, I returned home and reflected for a while. I then decided to give the brochure, which I picked up, to some neighbours. I have heard since that they also visited the exhibition. My reflection led me to six scripture texts, which I will share with you. I found the quilts and pictures preached to me without saying a word.
My experience
The room where the patchwork pictures and quilts were displayed held an air of silence, which everyone maintained. I felt the stillness of resting under or beside something handmade and held together. I began to pray. I thought of:
Psalm 8. 4 ‘When I see the heavens the work of your fingers’….
Psalm 46:11 ‘Be still and know that I am God’.
On looking closely and carefully at each exhibited creation, it was clear that these beautiful patchworks were simply scraps of material, none of them perfect on their own, but together they became something warm, strong, and beautiful. I looked at the fabrics, colour, textures and also I had a hands-on experience of feeling the soft, rough, smooth and stitched materials. I thought of God as a careful quilter, knowing every piece before it is stitched. We can have bright pieces, dull pieces, odd shaped pieces but our Creator does not throw away any scrap pieces. To me it was a picture of how God takes the mismatched pieces of our lives and makes something whole. No piece was wasted every scrap matters.
Ephesians: 2:10 – ‘We are God’s handiwork created in Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do’.
I concluded my reflection on the thread, which holds all the pieces together. This thread, which is grace, that runs through every singly scrap keeps it from falling apart. What struck me is the threads are finished off at the back, knotted and not seen. From the front it looks perfect but from underneath it can be a tangle. This reminds me of
Romans 8.28. ‘God works all things for good’….
Love is the thread which draws all the patches togethCol 3:14 ‘Over all these put-on loves, which binds them all together in perfect unity’…
PRAYER
Creator,
Thank you for our big family.
We are many different persons,
different stories, different colours, different experiences.
Help us use the thread and stitch of grace and goodness
to continue to bind us all together in love.
Amen.
Carmel Bateson, (Griffith Downs Community)
