Poetry Sunday

Later this morning, Agnes and I will be headed out to a quilt show at the Prince William County Fairgrounds down in Manassas, at which three of Agnes's quilts will be on display. She is a master of handicrafts of all sorts, from cross-stitching and stained glass to sewing and quilting, and she never picks a simple project to do ... I greatly enrich my not-for-general-use German vocabulary listening to her figure out how to sew her latest impossible quilt design.

Quilting is a traditional American hobby, and the tradition of the quilting bee still exists among people (yes, men do it, too) not too busy with the daily rat race to create things of beauty. And there are actually quite a few poems about quilting, too ... this is a particularly nice one ...

I Think God is a Quilter

By an Unknown Author

I think God is a quilter
Who takes His needle and thread
To piece our world from nothingness
And give it form instead.

I think God is a quilter
And everything I see
Are pieces from His careful hand
From tree to bumblebee.

I think we see God's stitches
His texture everywhere:
The velvet moss, the grainy sand,
The silky strands of hair.

I think God is a quilter
Stitching tight and tiny rows
Adding to my scraps and pieces
Seaming everything He knows.

I think he cuts the pattern
From what I'd throw away.
He shows me how to use each scrap
In His redeeming way.

I think God quilts a pattern
From everything I live;
But He can only stitch the quilt
From what I choose to give.

I think God is a Quilter
Stitching strength where I am weak.
Showing me that life He touches
Embraces everything I seek.

I think God is a Quilter
From the patience in each thread;
Proving length of time no barrier;
Treating time a gift, instead.

I think quilts are lessons
God uses just to teach
That our pieces and our remnants
Have kaleidoscopic reach.

So, in the life I'm living
With pieces everywhere
I'll give them to the Quilter
To stitch with loving care.

I'll give them to the Quilter
Unwanted though they be
And with his work of quilting
He'll make a quilt of me.


I think that a quilt is a perfect metaphor for the patchwork of a life. I hope the pieces of your quilt and the stitching that holds them together remain colorful and strong.

Have a good day, and enjoy the rest of your weekend. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo