“Quilting is a beautiful and complicated art” is one of the taglines I’ve had over on TerifiCreations. I had this for a while because indeed it is. Often as quilters progress through sewing they often land in the world of quilting and stay there. I landed here oh so many years ago in part because my husband said I needed a hobby, and he was correct I did. The beauty of the hobby drew me in, the challenge of it kept me here. Quilting is so beautiful and practical and impractical and necessary and unnecessary and teaches me in ways that are wild. And I really in all of that last sentence meant to say that quilting is a multi disciplinary craft (in the biggest sense of the word) that engages the visual and tactile senses and the brain and heart. Quilting engages our whole person. You as a quilt maker know what I mean. If you are a non quilter reading this quilting is math and geometry, it is art and poetry, it is visual and tactile. If your grandmother quilted she was a really smart woman who had a grasp not only of math, but of time management and multi-tasking and I dare say most likely a rich prayer life.
In chatting with a friend recently she mentioned how quiet I am at the moment. When this happens the possibilities of what’s going on are endless, usually involving some kind of stress, change, decision making, pondering or all of the above. If the pandemic taught us anything isolating isn’t a good thing for most of us, causing grief, loneliness, doubt, fear, anxiety and other icky things to bubble up. We are meant for community so withdrawing is not a good thing. In this moment there is a lot of pondering going on that is related to change and some soul searching, getting to know who I am with the loss of words explaining that is LOUD in the quiet.
Pursuing the Silence: Listening In
I’ve mentioned I’m on a path currently for becoming a Spiritual Director. This was something that bubbled up from early on in some of the work I did. I set it aside out of fear and a “how am I qualified to pursue this” identity. Yep, identity, this showed up in a very real way and was quickly quashed when I’m reminded of Sts Peter and Paul, one was “qualified” and counted these qualifications as nothing; the other wasn’t “qualified” and our Lord appointed him to lead/head the Church. God chooses, we say yes or no. To say no right now would be more painful than not pursuing. And then there is giving some of my time to the parish and that is working out in an unexpected way. And like quilting, God writes straight with crooked lines. The practice of spiritual direction is in part listening in. This is, in this moment where the silence comes from.
Irony, paradox and hyperbole are some of my favorite tools. Permit me a rephrase here, hyperbole is annoyingly effective tool. As a friend and I chatted, she shared with me something that I needed to hear, that as the words spilled from her lips I had a moment of clarity in the pursuit of silence. Have you ever entered that place while quilting while there is such deep focus that all else around you disappears, no other thoughts just you, the machine and the quilt working together as one, where all is quiet in your heart and mind? My husband would head for bed, trying to say good night to me and end up scaring me because this is where I was and had zero sense that he’d entered the room, not even hearing his voice. While talking with my friend the recognition that this is the space where I longed to go once again because it is Still, Quiet, Peaceful, Beautiful and Holy. It is Still.
My friend suggested something that I am going to endeavor to try. One Sunday a month Zoom session where we quilt and talk faith. If you’re interested let me know. I need to figure out timing on beginning this so watch this space for the first one.
May the Lord give you the gift of His Peace,
Teri
A Quilter's Heart 