Watch Rev. AndreaGrace's message from last week, based on the Prophet Isaiah and Luke's gospel, featuring a quilt she and her mom made for her son.
Or if you prefer to read it...
Happy New Year! With this Sunday, we begin a new liturgical year in our Church. It’s a time to start over…. To begin again. To reset. To refocus. Even as the world turns and spins - as our worries continue in our own families and in our country and our world and our planet.
Advent
Yet - in Advent, we are reminded of the gifts of hope, peace, joy and love. We are reminded that God enters our world through the Holy Spirit and Jesus - Emmanuel… and in God, miracles happen. Hope is alive.
Once again, this year we are using the resources of A Sanctified Art - an ecumenical, multicultural women’s organization. The theme this year is Words for the Beginning. What are the words we need to know in our hearts and minds and have on our tongues? What are the words we need to offer our loved ones, those we pass on the street and even ourselves?
Quilts
The imagery A Sanctified Art is using this Advent comes from quilts. As a quilter, I really appreciate this. I have loved quilts since I was a little girl - choosing quilt-like wallpaper for my bedroom in second grade. It wasn’t until 2000, that I began to quilt, after my mom gave me a gift certificate to learn for Christmas. I was off and running - and before long, my mom joined in the fun! We say that through our quilts - and now our stoles too - we “wrap people in love.” We have made quilts for each of my sons and all of her grandchildren. Let me take you through the process… When we are ready to begin a project, we often start with whom the recipient will be, what colors they like and what interests they have. This was for my youngest, Kevin, when he was a toddler. Then, we select a signature or main fabrics - the giraffe seemed apropos. We select a pattern - this is a Log Cabin. Finally, we select other “filler fabrics.” We often begin by going into my mom’s “pantry of fabrics” to see what might match…. We begin by selecting 30 or so fabrics and then make a final selection of about 20. Some of them have to be dark in order for the pattern to be emerge. We often need to purchase one or two to complete the look. Finally, we iron, measure, cut, sew and repeat until the quilt top is done. We send it off to Georgette - a blessed quilter - who combines it with the batting in the middle, the backing and then binds it off, sewing it together. Georgette and we pray blessings on the quilt and the recipient. We offer it to the recipient with a reminder that they are “wrapped in love.”
I share this much detail about the process because it helps me to understand God’s love for me…. God put this much time into creating me…. This much effort into choosing the fabrics that would become my gifts and talents and even my darker side with my shortcomings… And this much effort into selecting the recipients that would be blessed to journey through life with me…
Advent Reminders
Yet - in today’s readings, through the songs and our prayers, we are reminded of a few truths:
God is with us always - even in the difficult, scary, messy times of our lives. Emmanuel means “God with us.”
God’s angels minister to us and guide us. There is a Catholic belief that evolved from Judaism that every person has a guardian angel. Our traditions also uphold that there are four archangels - the top - Gabriel - who is a messenger, Michael who is a warrior and protector, Raphael who is a healer and Jews also celebrate Uriel who is known for wisdom and creativity. I’m not sure how or why Uriel got lost but I’m reclaiming him!
Each of us has a special mission from God. We come to earth with it. It’s also known as our vocation.
We have a choice. We can say YES or NO or WAIT to God. We can go begrudgingly or we can go joyfully. We can cower in fear or offer our doubts to God and ask for the gift of faith and courage. We can echo Mary’s words: Let it be done to me…
We come to earth in circles of love. We are not meant to be alone. We have God. We have the angels and saints. We have our families of origin and our families of choice. We need one another. We need to give and we need to receive.
Log Cabin Quilts - Lessons for Us
Which brings me back to this quilt.
The pattern is called “Log Cabin.” When a new family showed up on the frontier, the men would gather to build a log cabin barn. The women would bring their fabric scraps and together make a log cabin quilt. Traditionally, in the center is a red square that reminds us of our heart - and our hearth, the fire at the center of a log cabin home. The fabrics are attached in light and dark sides, reminders of the bright and difficult times in our lives. Additionally, this pattern of quilt was used as part of the Underground Railroad. The center square was switched from red to black and it was hung on the clothesline as a sign that it was a safe spot on the road to freedom.
Let's Pray
This Advent, may we take the fabrics of our lives and offer them to God.
May we be willing to entrust our scraps to God - that they may be turned into beautiful blessings.
May we offer ourselves to God and may we step more fully into our vocation.
May we recognize that we are blessed…. And that we are a blessing to this world.
Amen. So be it.
Additional Resources to Pray With
Learn about Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, a friend of people suffering with cancer
Read Isaiah 43:1-7 and Luke 1:26-38
Listen to: Let It Be Done Unto Me by Danielle Rose
We sang: At This Table - a reminder that all are welcome at Jesus' table and ours
Meditate on A Christmas Lullaby by Andrea Burns from Songs for a New World
May God find us ready.... as we sing along to this song
Meditation on this quote by St. Hildegard of Bingen
PS - If you would like an Advent booklet with a short reflection for each day, please let us know!
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