Sacred Connections: The Long View
Last evening, I was speaking with a dear friend who lives across the country; we were talking of the different circumstances in the states where we live, and the interior states of our own beings. The corona virus and the confrontations with injustice shake both our outer and inner worlds. Both have a sense of urgent need for attention, and both require a longer view.
Our immediate conversation was about physical distance from family and the temptation to do whatever it took to bridge that physical gap. But both of us are in that at-risk category due to age. We each acknowledged, and our adult children have reinforced, that actual visits might be too risky a path for us indeed. So, the physical separation continues, and we use technology to try to remain as connected as we can. It’s a constant re-calibration for all of us because we have different circumstances, different relationships, different needs and concerns.
This idea of the long view stirred in me earlier in the week as well. Jeanne Plunkett is receiving many words of condolence and wonderful stories about her father, Chet Cavaliere who died very recently. She called to share a letter from one of her dad’s friends. The friend wrote that years ago, after he had just returned from visiting his daughter who was very ill, Chet asked him to stop by his apartment; Chet had something he wanted to give to his friend’s daughter. When the friend came by, Chet gave him the beautiful prayer shawl that had been made by our knitting ministry and blessed and gifted to Chet’s wife Joy. Joy had taken comfort with this prayer shawl throughout her illness and to her death.
The friend gratefully accepted the shawl on behalf of his daughter and promised to return it when his daughter no longer needed it. But Chet said “No”, when the friend’s daughter was finished with it, his wish was for her to pass it on to another young woman facing a tough medical problem. Thankfully, after several years, the friend’s daughter was doing very well. When Chet asked about the shawl, the friend offered to return it again, but Chet insisted as he had originally, that it should be passed on. Just this past winter, the prayer shawl was gifted again, to another woman facing a very serious diagnosis with a difficult course of treatment ahead.
Having the pleasure of sitting with the Church of the Redeemer knitters during their monthly meetings, and now Zoom meetings on-line, I’ve witnessed the loving community within this group, and their devotion to this ministry. Jeanne shared this letter with the group earlier this week and there were some very full and grateful hearts, as well as misty eyes. In the short view, each knitter chooses some yarn and has a plan for where the knitting will lead. There’s the joy of knitting as a group, bringing the finished shawl in, and the final preparations of washing and sewing on a Church of the Redeemer prayer shawl tag. When there’s a request, the shawl is blessed and taken to the person in need. These are beautiful, practical, and Spirit fed steps in a well-tended process. A prayer in action if you will.
And then we let go, and sometimes we get a glimpse of the movement of the Spirit in the longer view. We are blessed to witness the gratitude and faithfulness of Joy; the loving, generous heart of Chet; the deep appreciation of a friend and his daughter; the new grateful recipient; and the devotion of Jeanne who wanted to share this beautiful journey of love, and faith and a prayer shawl with us.
In those moments when the short term overwhelms or frustrates or frightens us, let us try to take heart in a longer view, with faith, and hope, and love.
