fashioning a Christian ethic of clothing
Make no mistake: if he rose at all It was as His body; If the cell’s dissolution did not reverse, the molecule reknit, The amino acids rekindle, The Church will fall. It was not as the flowers, Each soft spring recurrent; It was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the… Continue reading Texts & Textiles: John Updike
I've posted before about the Carmina Gadelica, a wonderful collection of folk prayers and blessings from Scotland. Today, as spring visits Texas, it seemed right to offer one of the Carmina's prayers for flocks, especially the sheep, whose wool is so beautiful and useful. The sheep with their lambs, like so many animals and plants,… Continue reading Texts & Textiles: A Celtic Blessing for the Lambs
Happy Valentine's Day from WholeCloth! May your love be as trusty, fine, and kindly as the thread from faithful hands.
They also weave, with gentle art, Those stronger nets that bind the heart.
Before this year becomes too cluttered with daily tasks and joys and sorrows, it's important to remember the Story that gives these days their meaning
Partly work and partly play You must on St. Distaffs Day: From the plough soon free your team; Then cane home and fother them: If the maids a-spinning go, Burn the flax and fire the tow. Bring in pails of water then, Let the maids bewash the men. Give St. Distaff' all the right: Then… Continue reading Texts & Textiles: St. Distaff’s Day
I, said the sheep with curly horn, I gave Him my wool for His blanket warm, He wore my coat on Christmas morn; I, said the sheep with curly horn. Today is the 10th day of Christmas, and at our house, we're still singing carols. One of my favorites is "The Friendly Beasts," a song… Continue reading Texts & Textiles: A Christmas Carol
The beauty of the veil is the promise, teaching us to love what lies beneath.
Blessed are the timid hearts that evil hate that quail in its shadow, and yet shut the gate; that seek no parley, and in guarded room, though small and bate, upon a clumsy loom weave tissues gilded by the far-off day hoped and believed in under Shadow's sway. Blessed are the men of Noah's race… Continue reading Texts & Textiles: JRR Tolkien
She who reconciles the ill-matched threads of her life, and weaves them gratefully into a single cloth— it's she who drives the loudmouths from the hall and clears it for a different celebration where the one guest is you. In the softness of evening it's You she receives. You are the partner of her loneliness,… Continue reading Texts & Textiles: Rainer Maria Rilke
