fashioning a Christian ethic of clothing
I'm always attentive to textile references and delight when I hear song lyrics using textile imagery tell a story or communicate a feeling. Lately I've been enjoying the Rain for Roots albums with my baby, and today I heard something about "the fabric of faith." Looking up the full lyrics, I discovered that the song… Continue reading Texts & Textiles: Rain for Roots
The peace-makers quiet the winds of the world ever ready to be up and blowing; they tend and cherish the interlacing roots of the ministering grass; they spin and twist many uniting cords, and they weave many supporting bands...[but] every self-assertion, every form of self-seeking however small or poor, world-noble or grotesque, is a separating… Continue reading Texts & Textiles: George MacDonald
My spirit isn't exactly troubled these days, but it is brimful of ideas, hopes, questions, plans, and projects.
Weaving, sewing, care for the poor -- all springing from the love of Christ.
For the last few months, I've stepped away from my keyboard and let sleep knit the raveled sleeve of so many cares.
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.
Even a little bit of sewing will make you more mindful of your clothing: its source, its fit, the value of the labor that produced it. I think that learning to sew at least one garment can be a life-changing way to change your relationship to the purpose of clothing.
