Quilter Woman God

I have been reading this amazing book over the past several months. It is one of those books you have to read a little at a time. In one of the chapters, the authors depict God as the quilter and our lives as a quilt. I love this analogy so much, partly because I love quilting (though I am not so great at it-I've only done one)and partly because I love thinking of God as a woman putting together the ragged pieces of scrap material to create something beautiful that tells a story. Sometimes I wonder about the purposes of experiences I have had. Sometimes I feel my life is so mundane and boring. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the thought of so many issues in our broken world that I just can not be passionate about all of them. How beautiful that our God takes each of our experiences and sews them together carefully so that each square compliments the other. Here is a wonderful quote from the book:

Indeed, the image of the quilt stands as a compelling metaphor for our own relationship to the whole of creation and how much we need one another on this journey to wholeness. When we listen to each others stories and tell our own, the quilt begins to take shape. The interplay of patterns offers richness and diversity. Gradually, we begin to see our common threads. Perhaps it is when we can stand together and embrace our differences that we will begin to grasp the profound connection that unites all of life. Maybe then we will sense how healing our own lives and relationships has an impact that is far-reaching. In a way that is truly mysterious, we might even begin to notice how our personal healing somehow contributes to the mending of our churches, the Earth, and even the world.

A wonderful friend of mine, Catherine, sent me a gift today that she created. I had shared some of my thoughts with her about this book. I cried when I opened a paper collage quilt square that she made for me. Each piece represents part of me. The hands represent my passion to heal and work for justice in U.S. healhcare. India is in there, my friends belly is in there, and of course philly is in there, and much more. Thank you Catherine. Though you are on the other side of the pond, we are connected like pieces to a quilt.