Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

August 14, 2007

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Rosanne Catalano

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Michael Smith

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Barbara Weymouth

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Helen Dowd

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Today’s Announcements

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Today’s Stories

~**~**~

 Trinity Shawls:

Plain Sailing and Diving for Purls!

Tanja Cilia

When I was a child, I quite envied the Queen-turned-Sheep in Through The Looking Glass, who could knit with fourteen pairs of needles at once… my “Alice” bands, in fact, looked like warped, bedraggled, circlets of scrap fabric.

Try as I might, I even found using the customary two a great effort; and when it came to circular needles, four-needle socks, and the myriad abbreviations to remember, I was a non-starter…. in fact, I would have been fairly comfortable in the Middle Ages, when men were primary knitters and no women were allowed to join the Knitting Guilds.

By happenstance, I stumbled upon the Knit-to-Pray site, brainchild of Suzanne M. Harker (http://www.trinityshawls.com).

Here, knitting has been elevated to an art form.  Not because it is trendy – as when the label “hand knitted” in a boutique purchase hikes up the price of an item – but because there is a higher purpose behind it all. The shawls are a ‘big hug’ of love and care.

Life coaches will tell you that knitting ranks equal with yoga as a way to cleanse the mind and ease tension.  Moreover, with the rhythmic clacking of needles – a loving litany and a mechanical mantra, if you like, you are actually accomplishing something tangible.

Just as expert knitters can carry out a conversation as their needles fly, so even beginners can pray as the inches of plain-and-purl mount up.

Suzanne Harker has flawlessly married flair and prayer.  In her Knit-to-Pray Prayer Guide, she explains that the time spent knitting is a time devoted to meditation and payer, a time dedicated to God who holds us in the Palm of His hands, and cherishes us for we are His children.

There are, to date three different shawls to make; The Annunciation (March 25), The Visitation (May 31) and The Nativity (Dec. 25). There are two colourways for each title, each with its own spiritual nuance. The Annunciation winter/spring model is blue and white, whereas the autumn/winter is light blue and red.  The Visitation version is two sets of earthy colours, and The Nativity style is a melody of three colours. The Trinity Border is a designed pattern of rows symbolizing the Blessed Trinity; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit... recalling the time when hairpin lace-makers used to whisper the Names as they wound the thread around the two points of their wooden thread reels, before the plastic tubes of today took over, or indeed over hairpins proper in a simple kind of macrame/crochet

You may also chose to knit scarves in a colour according to the intimations given – but in every case you will be aided in meditating the scriptures through reflections and Gospel readings that will help you focus upon the task at hand. There are also questions to guide you in your spiritual journey. All the colours have been explicitly chosen for their spiritual, scriptural significance.

The story of the siblings Mary, Martha and Lazarus has been remembered in a new set of shawls; The Martha Shawl is rose and green, for Life; the Mary Shawl is green and yellow, for Serenity, the Martha/Mary Shawl is blue and brown for Peace, and the Lazarus Shawl could not be in any other colours than two shades purple, epitomising God’s curative love!

Shawls are knitted for oneself – or to give away.  You may knit when you are alone – or in a group. Each kit comes complete with Australian wool, bamboo knitting needles, instructions for knitting and praying simultaneously, and a sizes chart.
Suzanne Harker, a renowned spiritual director and authority in retreat ministry, spent a year of intense prayer and contemplation before setting out on this spiritual passage.  

The rhythm of prayer and the regularity of the repeating pattern are balm to the soul. And when the shawls’ last stitches are cast off from the needle… the knitter envelops herself in it, creating a personal sacred space, and relaxes in thanksgiving.

Suzanne has tapped upon the ideal way to merge devotion and doing. A session with the Knit-to-Pray Booklet series called Knit-to-Pray with Martha and Mary leaves you feeling spiritually rejuvenated – with the precious hand-crafted shawl to share with the person of your choice. Or - it happens – to show them your empathy by making the Lazarus shawl for them during times of mourning and grieving.

The shawls connect the people who make them, and the people who receive them, within a circle of love.  Some knitting circles pass the shawls round, that a prayer may be said by each person on ach shawl, before they are packed to be given away.  There are no borders of age, race or religion; anyone who wants to knit a shawl, or who wants to pray over one, may do so without restraint. Never is a price put upon the shawls – recipients, however may donate yarn for use in another shawl, for someone else. And the healing hands of the knitters do not rest idle.

Other endeavours that unite prayer and hand-knitting also exist.  Chemo Caps, begun by Vause Carlsen at the Trinity Episcopal, Flushing, Michigan congregation, united knitters (who are parishioners, correctional facility inmates, and retirees) and donors of wool in creating beanies or other headgear for patients who have lost their hair through chemotherapy. It is interesting to note that, after reading about an all-mail correctional facility where the inmates did crochet, Carlen got a wonderful response.

The ministry provides both knitted and crocheted caps, in various designs, and come with a note that says “Prayerfully made just for you”. If you are interested in obtaining patterns and further information, go to www.chemocaps.com    

Susie Wong, Dee James, Gina Autenrieth and Worna Haywood, of the Mission Investment Fund, are also involved in a similar project.  They are ELCA employees at the Chicago offices who took part in a project to knit or crochet prayer shawls for Vitas Innovative Hospice. The shawls made were blessed at The Lutheran Centre. To them, a shawl is a symbol of the love that ensconces a person during tribulations.

Then there is the programme begun in 1998 by Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo, two graduates of the 1997 Women's Leadership Institute at The Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut.   Under the direction of Professor Miriam Therese Winter, MMS, they undertook to provide prayer shawls for the needy, as a tangible endeavour of applied Feminist Spirituality. Some shawls are hand- or machine-knitted, some crocheted, others woven or quilted, or sewn.  Check them out at     www.shawlministry.com

As a further beautiful embodiment of this ‘poetry in motion’, one notes that these mantles are often passed on to others, whom the present owner deems more needy, when the time comes for them to be parted from it, thus multiplying the love, prayers, and blessings that would have gone into its making, like a pebble that is cast into the water to form ever-outreaching ripples.

Tanja Cilia

tanjachilja@hotmail.com

~**~**~

Rainbow Bridge Gang. Special Report. Jake.
Bill Walker

missourisage@yahoo.com

We have been blessed with a lot of special little people of late, but we just got a new member of some great fame to join our gang. We were all doing the normal thing, watching the lane. You know that lane is the most guarded and watched lane. Sure no one is going to steal it.

If any one tried there would be a whole army of us guys and gals with teeth that would have a lot to say about it.

Anyway, here comes this beautiful Black Labrador moving at a good clip up the lane. He was wearing a little jacket with some shiny medals. Now we just knew he was a hero of some kind. We are all heroes of some kind. Most of us never got any special medals, so we woofed him to stop and visit a spell.

We found out this is Jake, a hero of 911. He lived in Utah, and made a special trip to help out when 911 happened. Well, he and others of his small gang got called out more then once to help out in your bad times of need. Kind of like the fire horses of old. You got problems, call Jake and company.

He told us about how he loved a nice steak, so we ordered up a Kansas City Special Steak.  While we were at it, we ordered up the whole gang a steak. That Fancy had to be greedy, and asked for two. That runt never will get filled up.

Jake told about the calls he made along with others when something happened that took their special service. He was finishing up his steak, and said. You know I was trained to do my job. But I am looking at many heroes here, heroes that stepped up in time of need, no special training, but they stepped up, and in their time of need served. They are heroes also. We gave it some thought and yes, there has been a time or two most of us stood ready to guard the house. Some gave their life in doing so.

So our gang grew a bit larger. Jake is here, a hero of 911 and Katrina. So Mary Flood, your pal and buddy Jake is going to be watching the lane, waiting for the curtain to lift, and here you come home also.

What's the movie tonight? Why Jake the Hero comes home.
Tinker and Poo; The Boys Write
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-35741-5

~**~**~

Poetry Corner

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FREEDOM

Georgewaters Ojeigbe – Lagos, Nigeria:

gojiegbe@oregun.jhplc.com

I believe in freedom because Jehovah Lord God gave man a free will to worship either mammon or himself

I believe in freedom because it brings us a way of expressing the different gifts of Jehovah god in us

I believe in freedom because it brings development

I believe in freedom because Jehovah Lord God also wants us freed from the law of sin and death

I believe in freedom because salvation was freely given to man

I believe in freedom because it means looking inward

Freedom well spelt brings the blessings of Jehovah Lord God

~**~**~

Soft I lay

Cheryl Williams

Soft I lay on our downy bed,

wishing you were here,

wishing I could feel your touch

and the way you hold me near.

Soft I cry on my downy pillow;

I still hear you whisper sweet,

telling me things I long to hear,

making me tingle from head to feet.

Soft I slumber on our downy bed

as I close my eyes and dream;

I can see us walking together

wading through the stream.

The sunlight is shining down

A breeze is rustling past,

Oh, my love...this simple memory

Speaks of a love that will surely last.

Cheryl Williams

politicalgirl04@aol.com

~**~**~

 Readers Feedback

 Wow Bill's story about the dogs believe in a god was neat, Jene

Rotten Tomatoes - One of your best, and one of your saddest stories, Carol.

You nail home a great point in this one.

Thank you

Mike

Carol, this is an eye opener. You wrote it with such grace. Are you submitting it somewhere? It is worthy of payment... and very good payment, if you ask me.
Overall, this is a strong depiction of life out there for those in situations like yours, like others.  My heart goes out to them all. I wish I could do more. Does Canada even know that so many people are in such dire straits?
 
I once read an article a reporter wrote. He lived the life of a homeless person for a period of time. He pretended he was one of them, so he could see how they survived.  There was food available but it was certainly not a balanced diet. It was mostly starch, like leftover donuts, sandwiches (lots of sandwiches) and so on. At the end of the month or however long it was, he actually gained weight, not lost it, because the food that was given to
the homeless was anything at all.  They are all grateful for anything to survive, that they eat anything provided. Not a whole lot of healthy foods like vegetables, milk, fruit, etc. but still, it's something to fill the stomach. So these street people survive, but their overall health is poor.

 Interesting.
 
Anyway, I hope this article opens some doors for you. It is sad, honest, and makes me feel so many emotions.

You're awesome, my friend.

MH

August 12, 2007 - Carol,

What happened to the poetry corner?  I believe it's been three days without it.  I'm not asking simply because I've got poems to be published, but because I love poetry and I think it deserves equal billing with the stories.  Please bring it back soon.

Thanks,

David Fox

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