Whose kitchen table can you picture?

Returning from vacation is often a mixed bag of feelings.  On this day I am wondering about which direction to take, which task to approach first.  It is amazing how we can see the world differently when we are not exhausted and empty.  We are physical beings that are comprised of so much more that just skin and bones.  Each of us knows that and yet the concrete realities of life get our attention and sometimes seem more urgent than the effuse things like tending to the soul or spirit.

Recently I have been mindful again of the role the arts play in the tending of my spirit.  What difference does it make to spend time with broken glass?  How could playing with fabric, making them into designs, south the soul or mind?  Why would anyone want to work with water color pencils?

Growing up I remember sitting at my grandmothers kitchen table.  It is located against the far wall of her kitchen.  This is the gathering place, the place where all important functions of the house take place.  A wood stove is on one side wall and the warmth that emanates from that makes the room toasty.  To my left is a big picture window.  The Saco river and the mountains stretch out as far as the eye can see.  But all I am aware of at this moment is my grandmothers full attention, she is teaching me to sew.

Years have passed since this time.  We spent many afternoons in this space, learning how to use the sewing machine that she eventually gave me.  Learning how to thread the needle, thread the bobbin, press open seams and sew a straight line.  Right sides together, putting in a zipper, and learning to hand sew the hems.  Yet, even with all the years that have passed, each time I pull out the sewing machine I use now, each time I press open a seam, I am brought back to those times.

Whether it is knitting, sewing, working with glass or paints, there is a quieting of my mind that allows me to sit with the spirit in a way few other things do.  These are the times I am able to remember that it is God who forms me, remember what I value and cherish, remember how and through whom God forms me.


Psalm 139

Lord, you have searched me out and known me;
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.

You trace my journeys and my resting-places
and are acquainted with all my ways.

Indeed, there is not a word on my lips,
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.

You press upon me behind and before
and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.

Where can I go then from your Spirit?
where can I flee from your presence?

If I climb up to heaven, you are there;
if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.

If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there your hand will lead me
and your right hand hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me,
and the light around me turn to night,

Darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day;
darkness and light to you are both alike.

For you yourself created my inmost parts;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I will thank you because, I am marvelously made;
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.

My body was hidden from you,
while I was being made in secret
and woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;
all of them were written in your book;
they were fashioned day by day,
when as yet there was none of them.

How deep I find your thoughts, O God!
how great is the sum of them!

If I were to count them, they would be more in number
than the sand;
to count them all, my life span would need to
be like yours.

What helps you to quiet your mind?  What in your life helps you to tend your soul and your Spirit?  We are each marvelously made, we are each here to live out the story that is being written through us.  Who are the characters in your life that have been important?  Who's kitchen can you picture in your minds eye?

Today I give thanks for my grandmother and mother that were both very gifted and talented in the fiber arts.  I am grateful for the passion and creativity that they have nurtured in me.