Last Sunday in the Drum...

August 19, 2007

This was my last day serving as locum minister at the wee parish church in Drumchapel.  I wanted the service to be a special--a meaningful one.  A chance to consider the past ten months of being with folk in the Drum...and of them being with me, because we journeyed together, learning from each other.  I can't remember any more what the lectionary text was for the day, even though I would have normally used it.  Instead, I opted for an image of G-d* that I've had for some time--The Divine quilt maker.  Seeing the Divine as having knitting, quilting, sewing and other sorts of more 'feminine' traits only occurred to me while I was in seminary.

I was journeying with other students training for ministry--in a specific course to help ministers/pastors 'get to grip' with their own needs and be able to set them aside and help others--it was called C.P.E., clinical pastoral education.  It was in this course when one of my peers shared an experience of helping as a hospital chaplain.  This peer had an opportunity to share an idea of what G-d was like with two ladies--one was on her death bed and the other was working on a quilt.  The dying woman wanted nothing to do with the student chaplain, the main chaplain, or any other 'religious' person, not to mention G-d.  The other woman wasn't bothered one way or the other.  Still somehow, my peer was invited to 'give it a shot' and convince the woman that G-d was real.

Now these two women spent many a years together working on quilts.  And the able one was trying to finish this last one in her friend's company while her friend was still living.  

Now, the real story continues that my peer didn't seize the opportunity presented to use the image of G-d as a quilt-maker...but i like to envision what might have happened if she did...

That G-d is very much like a quilt-maker...

   one who, as the psalmist reminds us, knit us each together in our mother's wombs

   one who weaves our lives with the lives of others around us

   one who knows the importance of arranging the cloths to make something beautiful

   one who carefully spends time with each piece of cloth intimately...

The Divine quilt-maker carefully weaves our lives together, taking each piece of stray cloth, giving it meaning and purpose, trimming it, connecting it with other strips of cloth, and making each cloth a piece of a bigger picture.

Maybe this image of G-d doesn't work for you...

but it worked for us that day...as we remembered that our lives would be blessed for the time we've spent with each other & that strips of cloth representing each of our lives were woven into each other's quilts. 

*if you are wondering why i'm using a hyphen instead of an "o", the reason relates to the Hebrew people and Jews today, not being willing to speak the name of the Divine.  Since this is a wee way to remember we are not like G-d and a way to show respect, I have chosen to write the word this way.   For more information on the subject, just ask. :-)