We are a one car family at the moment. It’s a little challenging now and again, however we gotta do what we gotta do. Today, as of the moment of this writing, is Good Friday. One car, so walking to the local parish for the celebration of the Passion of our Lord. The walk was lovely, the sun pouring down, realizing about two blocks from home that the jacket was a bit much.
As Catholics we believe that the Eucharist is Christ present body, blood, soul, and divinity. When the Eucharist is removed from the Sanctuary there is an emptiness that is difficult to describe. After the Mass of the Lord’s Supper the Eucharist is removed from the Sanctuary, and reserved in a chapel or in the rectory chapel, so for us Jesus will not be present again until the Easter Vigil. In this empty Church this afternoon I got lost in prayer, becoming really distracted when the fold behind me started chatting. When this happens lately there is an internal reminder that this is what the crowds following Jesus probably sounded like: loud, noisy, full of the needs of this moment.
Christmas is the beginning of our life as Christians, Easter is the Pinnacle, the Summit. It is, to quote the pre-dinner reflection, Awesome. Full of Awe. That our Creator would express his love for us by pouring out all of who he is to restore that moment when we turned away from Him and honestly, we turned away from one another. We turned away from one another in some pretty painful ways. We are now, in this moment restored to Grace, Wholeness, Well being. With each person there is the opportunity for a good relationship with God and with one another.
Today was a gift. A beautiful gift. This was like drinking cold water on a hot day.
Like getting into the groove of machine quilting. With an idea in my head, a quilt under my hands, a machine oiled, threaded, and ready to stitch there is this Creative space that shrouds me in a moment where music, voices, words, and ringing phones all disappear. They are still happening around me and yet this moment. oh this glorious moment. I’ve been startled out of these moments, sometimes getting back there is as simple as starting to stitch again, sometimes it’s so difficult I must walk away for a while, to do something else.
These moments of deep contemplative prayer, and deep creative quilting are few and far between at the moment. I know both will cycle back in part by my own attention to them. As I prayed yesterday I know there is something I must do; as I worked on a quilt earlier this week I know that in part there is a tidying up and in part I am needing to show up for the work of quilting. I have avoided these places of great joy on my own. While life has been a bit turbulent avoiding that place where freedom lives in prayer and in quilting has added to the sense of being disconnected.
Spring has come, Easter is here, there is a deep sense of renewal happening. Awake my soul and sing!
Happy Easter!
Teri
A Quilter's Heart 
Teri, this is a very creative analogy. I’m going to send a link to a faithful friend who quilts.
Thank you so very much Tony.