The memory of the red clay in my hand, at first cold and barely pliable, has remained a solid memory from a journaling retreat with Janie Normile a long time ago. As my hands enveloped the clay warming it, the pliability and temperature changed, softening and yielding to my hands. This took a bit of time as the cooler center resisted movement until the warmth of my hands sufficiently softened the clay. It is entirely possible that this clay is somewhere in the things that moved from New York, although its exact location is currently unknown.
Over a recent weekend this image of the potter and the clay was used to describe how God works with us. Slowly, gently, allowing his hands to warm us before beginning the process of molding us. Speaking softly, words barely audible, a sunrise, sunset, mockingbird staying nearby making frequent visits, the Psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours, a realization when not quite seeking it, sunshine, the hammock.
I’ve just completed four weeks of teaching color theory for quilt makers. I loved every single moment of it. Just like the clay in the hand of the potter, making quilts is a process that improves over time as we repeat each step in the process over and over again. And color is a multi-step process from choosing the color of the fabrics to choosing the thread for the decorative stitching.
<—- three purples
This block shows up in a lot of quilt making over the years. I am currently remaking the quilt where I first used this to intentionally begin exploring color. This gives a lot of room to explore how color is used to help create depth and dimension over the surface of a quilt. And I do love the machine stitching part of the quilt making process.
the back of the quilt (a group of pieced left over five-inch squares —>
The bobbin thread is a light gray.
What is fascinating here is where the gray blends into the background and where the gray really shows. While not surprising, I do find it fascinating to experiment with the “what happens if I fool around with this” and then actually see what happens. As Brother Joe Marie oft said, “Blessed are the surprisable for they will be surprised. This is so fun both in the whole off centered quilting and the texture of it all.
Exploring prayer, much like exploring quilting, is to begin to listen and learn how God speaks to us. A few weeks ago I had this moment when I realized that prayer has been part of my life since I was thirteen, and there are hints of it even earlier. Sometimes prayer is a struggle, and quite frustratingly so as there is nothing more that I desire than a relationship with the one who knows me from before I was knit in my mother’s womb.
Of late there’s been a sense of spiritual desolation and quite frankly this is painful. Pain FULL. My own spiritual director asked me to ask the Lord what began this. This morning while doing the dishes and tidying up the kitchen I got it and I think I’m understanding more as this day goes on that there’s a bit more to it however comma this one experience is definitely part of it. And so I offer that to the Father, holding out my hands with no desire to take it back and also understanding that there is a need to sit with this and listen for what the Lord has for me here.
Welcome to Lent. PS have you listened to Abiding Together recently?
God bless,
Teri
A Quilter's Heart 