“Life isn’t given to us all of a piece,
It’s more like a patchwork quilt
Each hour and minute a patch to fit in
To the pattern that’s being built.”   Helen L. Marshall

It seems to me that our lives are made up of bits and pieces of experiences all sewn together into a unified whole- like a patchwork quilt.   So- I was enthused to find the following while reading…

“Like a quilt, every human life is unique, every pattern and color motif different. Quilts are made with dozens of bits of fabric sewn together to create a whole that pleases both eye and spirit as no one piece could.

Sometimes we can’t see our own life patterns and colors clearly. We live life day to day, our energy invested in the details of family, work, and recreation.

Seldom do we have the time to step back and see the larger view that would tell us where we’ve been and where we seem to be going on our spiritual path.

If we learned to hide our true feelings to survive difficult childhood experiences, we come to our journey without a good idea of who we are.

If we were to make quilts of our lives, some of the pieces would be missing, others might be distorted.

When our emotional or physical survival is threatened, whether we are children or adults, we don’t have much energy for objective observation.

Most of our attention is focused on anticipating and avoiding more wounds, or healing from the old ones. We see only certain parts of our history and inner lives, and we give some of them more importance than they deserve…

Because of our pain, we may even forget or minimize the lively, successful, loving, or inspiring parts of ourselves or our story.

No matter what has cut us off from awareness of the patterns and colors of our lives, when we begin to grow spiritually we seek greater self-awareness and self-knowledge.

We try to learn all we can about what connects us with the sacred and what cuts us off from it.” Peg Thompson, Finding Your Own Spiritual Path 

Patchwork Spirituality-

To dig even deeper into the quilt metaphor…your spiritual journey is a patchwork quilt in and of itself. Think of all the ways, events, and people who have influenced your spiritual growth, or lack of it.

I don’t know about you, but my spiritual journey has meandered all over the place!  And it started when I was still a fairly young child.  Consequently, I have a highly colorful spiritual quilt.

And truthfully- even though there have been some barren, lonely, limbo times, and some excruciatingly difficult times, I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences. They all brought me to where I am today and will continue to influence me.

Comparison to Our Spiritual Journey

If our lives can be compared to patchwork quilts, perhaps we could imagine our spiritual grounding as the binding and backing of our pieced-together existences.

All the pieced patchwork is the top of the quilt- but that’s all it is until you put the quilt together.

You need a backing which supports everything in the patchwork top. This backing is often taken for granted, but it is an essential part of the quilt, for without the backing, the pieces could be torn apart.

It’s like the support structures we build around our lives, especially our faith and belief system. The quilt top is vulnerable and fragile without the backing as a foundation

Then, sandwiched in between the top and the backing, is the batting material which provides warmth and protection, and which makes the quilt snug and comforting.

This is Where the Metaphor Gets Really Interesting!

There are now three surfaces that need to be held together.  Without the actual quilting, when it is washed, all the parts would get gnarled and crumpled together, and the quilt will be useless

So… it is the actual quilting process that holds the quilt together. The three layers are stitched together in a decorative pattern, the needle going through the patched top, through the batting and into the backing.

Back and forth in small, continuous stitches the finishing of the quilt takes place.

Without this fusing- this merging and uniting- of the three pieces you do not have a quilt.

I see a metaphor for life in this quilting process.

The stitches are the connection- the link or bridge- between our patchwork self and divinity which is our backing.

By itself, the pieced top may be lovely, but its full potential as a work of art is only reached when it is supported by the backing, and linked to it by the communicating stitches.

What does your spiritual quilt look like?  Is it heavy or light?  What kinds of colors does it have?  Different shapes?  Varying textures?  Is there a blending, or sharp contrasts?  Is there an overall pattern or is it abstract? Are the pieces many and small, or large and regular shaped?

Muse over the imagery and ponder the implications…See what you can derive from this metaphor!

“What’s more important than spiritual life? It seems to me it’s the bedrock of everything essential about being human.” Dani Shapiro