Is God in the stitches?

[Robinsunne]

O.K., I am open to anyone's understanding of God, Goddess, Spirit - actually I am eager for answers from Buddhists, and Muslims, and Christians, and Wiccans - all of us:
Do you feel like stitching is prayer? Is your meditation practice a daily stint with your beads? Do you finally slow down with the beat of needle and thread matching that of your heart, and three or thirty inches down get through all of the chit-chat and monkey mind of your day and finally settle in to listen?
I do. All of the above. And I feel insane without it. My days get so busy and I think that I have other priorities - and I want to commit suicide after about two weeks of my hands not wrapped around some piece of cloth, making little thread marks all over it.
I always feel like I just got home when I pick up my needle ...

[Bonnie Van Hall]

YES!!! That's exactly what it feels like. You probably already know this, but the word "bead" actually means a prayer--that's where rosary beads come from. I think it's one of the few avenues we modern people still have available to slow ourselves down and connect with spirit, short of actual prayer and meditation. And thankfully, crafters and artists everywhere are keeping these traditions alive. I often think about the connections of our craft with the different spiritual traditions. I love the way some of the ancient Greek stories refer to weaving--the three Fates who weave the tapestries of our lives, Odysseus' wife Penelope using the weaving and unweaving of her husband's shroud as a way to avoid marrying unwelcome suitors, and even the story of Theseus surviving the Minotaur and entrapment in the labyrinth thanks to Ariadne and her infamous thread. All of these stories, to me, point out the fact that weaving and the needlearts are central to society, meaning, and even life itself. God him/herself must be a weaver of worlds, and if that is the image we're created in, I think all of us are in good company!

[marion barnett]

For me, any kind of art making is a meditation.

[sharon young]

I hadn't thought of it as deeply as this, but once I discovered the rhythm of hand stitching in my first attempt at quilting I found it very theraputic, it's the same with knitting. It's only when someone draws your attention to it that you realise what 's actually going on in the creative process.

[sharon young]

That's it exactly, Heather!

[Robinsunne]

Bonnie, I did know that bead came from the word for prayer! Makes rosaries and mala make a lot of sence, doesn't it? And yes, Heather, it is finding one's center. So, do you suppose that that is why it is so theraputic, Sharon? I think that it is too.
Thank you all for your words. Good stuff to think about tonight.
R

[arlee barr]

Maybe not God or Goddess, but certainly peace and contentment, excitement and the exhilaration of self expression too!
Without it, i would surely go insane.......it's helped me through depression cycles, loneliness, poverty, isolation and pain, strengthened my joy and hope, taught me patience, taught me to leap without a net, given me friends and tested my knowledge and serenity.

[Sandra Wyman]

When I'm creating it is a strange experience - meditation like Marion says, but also a sort of simultaneous reaching into myself and reaching outwards at the same time. At its best it becomes mystical and I discover things I didn't know were there - it's like whatever I am making has a life and a determination of its own. (For a born-again agnostic I'm doing a great line in spirituality here!)

[Fairywebmother]

Not much more to be said, here, by me, anyway. When we are focused (centered) in joy, it has a profound affect on our creativity, but also our reality in general. Meditation is a most healthy practice. When we create, we are doing that...many of us without even realizing it. There is definitely something about stitching. After a while, I am on autopilot and my mind can travel anywhere! When I am creating, worry and fear seem to disappear.

[New Fiberman]

You may want to pick up a copy of the book The Shaolin Grandmasters' Text: History, Philosophy, and Gung Fu of Shaolin Ch'an (Order of Shaolin Ch'an) by Shaolin Monks (Hardcover - Jan 15, 2005). The book is by the real Shaolin monks about the Shaolin. Anyway, the martial art gung fu ( often spelled kung fu) is their active meditation. Stitching is yours. Chan Buddhism (which became Zen when it was taken to Japan) is not very concerned with God.

[Fairywebmother]

Thanks, New Fiberman. I'll have to look into those. My own, personal belief is that God (whatever, whoever that is) IS in the stitches...but also in everything else. Focus is how we connect to everything and experience that oneness. JMHO :)

[booski brown]

yes! I feel stitching is like prayer. when i am alone and into my work i talk to God. I am a Christian and I try my best to exist as God would have me exist and I feel He is very close when I am working. He asks us to involve him in everything we do

[Susie Monday]

I'm not a stitcher or beader, but machine quilting has this quality, even with the noise and the speed. I am a bit nuts right now, because I havent had time to work on any new art quilts -- cloth, yes, dyeing, yes -- but getting something onto the machine must have some place in my spiritual life. Ironing is another such practice for me. Quite grounding.