I stopped by and talked to the quilters yesterday as they neared completion of another quilt and, oh what a beautiful quilt it is. With a patchwork arrangement of a variety of materials and scraps, this quilt will be as beautiful and traditional as it is difficult to quilt. As we talked I watched them quilt and noticed that they were have quite a hard time getting through some of the materials at different points in the patterns. Arline Magee pointed out that at those ‘hard points’ they were having to go through six layers of cloth in each direction to complete the stitch and that it took a lot of patience and strength to get through the material and bring the needle back up at nearly the same point. Marcie Kuhn showed me the tips of her fingers where the needle had pricked and pierced her flesh repeatedly as she kept one hand under the quilt ‘feeling for the needle’ to make sure it came all the way through before heading it back up through the material to complete the stitch. Edna Smith, Dorris Vrell, and Doris Snead all had similar ‘battle wounds’ in their effort to complete this particular project, but everyone around the quilt agreed that they love to quilt and they loved the companionship they shared as they worked together towards its’ completion. And that got me to thinking . . .

After eighteen years as Chairperson of the St. Paul Quilters, Marcie Kuhn is retiring as Chairperson. Since she took over as Chair in 1986 the quilters have completed 319 quilts and raised $23,600 for mission and facility projects undertaken by the St. Paul UCC faith family (and some of those quilts were done for free as ‘special projects’!). This is, by nearly every standard I can think of, an amazing legacy of dedication, faithfulness and service . . . AND, this number of quilts and dollars raised only represents the production of the quilters since Marcie has been Chairperson. How many quilts were completed since the St. Paul Quilters began? And, how many more quilts will be done in the years ahead?

The St. Paul Quilters, and Marcie as their retiring Chairperson, are a paradigm for the Church: As the Body of Christ, we each take our place in the ongoing history of God’s work of salvation, we offer our particular gifts and talents as we may, have our labors admired and criticized, have our hearts filled even as our fingers are pricked and pierced in pain, contribute to the mission of proclaiming the ‘warmth and nearness’ of God’s love that surrounds us as a quilt, then pass on the tradition of faithfulness and perseverance to the next generation, confident that God will guide and strengthen them for the work to be done even as God has guided and strengthened us for the work we have done. We are neither the beginning, nor the completion, of God’s patchwork quilt of salvation but, through Christ, through this Baby who comes to Bethlehem to be Emmanuel (God With Us), we are very much a part of God’s redemptive, merciful Love made manifest for all of creation. In that, there is Hope.

There is Hope for new beginnings in the midst of life’s completions. There is Hope that God Still Speaking will speak a new truth, stitch a new pattern, quilt a new way in ones whose names we do not yet know, but whose lives are intimately sewn into and with our own. There is Hope that the New Year will bring with it new vision, new understanding, and new faithfulness in God’s own wisdom of how each part of creation adds to the beauty and fullness of what will be completed, even as the framework of salvation is turned and the final stitches are nearing. There is Hope in the One whose hands are pricked and pierced for our sake, even as He seeks to place his arms around us: There is Hope that He views the pain to be borne, not as a burden, but as a privilege of sharing in God’s artistry of Grace.

Thank you, Marcie, for your many years of leadership and devotion to the ministries of St. Paul United Church of Christ. Thank you for your untiring faithfulness to the God of all creation, to the Christ of our salvation, and to the Spirit of unending joy. Thank you for pricked and pierced fingertips, for long days of quilting, and for doing with pleasure a ministry often overlooked for the care you provide. Thank you for a good sense of humor and laughter on the way, for seeing ‘what might be’ before any of us could even imagine what could be, and for nurturing the vast majority of us ‘quilting illiterates’ with patience and peace.

Yet, most of all, “Thank You!” to all of the quilters, through all of the years, in all of the places where the Church is in ministry: Thank you for reminding us of God’s Presence, of our place in God’s Mission, and of the joy which we share with so many throughout all of history. I pray we can extend your example as faithfully as you have established it in Christ Jesus, our Lord, through Whom all things find their meaning. God bless you all.