Wrapped in Love

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. -Anaïs Nin

From "Knitting into the Mystery," by Susan S. Jorgensen and Susan S. Izard:

What is it you receive when you receive a shawl? You receive a garment that proclaims peace - peace over you, peace under you, peace within you, peace around you. We cannot knit and hold a gun. We cannot knit and strike another. You receive a shawl that has been knit in love - love that is freely given for its own sake. I don't know of a soul who knits shawls for material gain or recognition. The people I know who knit are passionate about loving and seek only to express that love through their craft. You receive a garment that has been filled with healing intentions and comfort, a garment that seeks to console and give solace, a garment that celebrates and affirms, a garment that showers abundant blessings upon its wearer from the compassionate heart of its knitter.

What is it that you receive when you receive a shawl? You receive membership into a circle that has no boundaries, a circle with a momentum that continues to ripple out into the global community. The sum of it has become far greater than any of the people and parts that have played its midwives. The shawl-knitting ministry has a life of its own. Wear a shawl in a public place, and you will be noticed. You will be asked, 'Isn't that one of those shawls?' 'Who knit it for you?' 'How can I get one?' In a time when war is destroying what we hold dear and the world is in chaos, you receive peace that you may be peace. You receive love that you may be love. You receive healing that you may heal. You receive affirmation that you may affirm. Be mindful. Be prayerful. Welcome the Mystery.

Human beings love being wrapped. The activity touches a deep chord within. I sit at my computer composing this chapter, wrapped in a luxurious, deep purple shawl that is a combination of sheep and llama wool. Small glass seed beads are scattered randomly, snugly sewn into the tiny waves of the K3, P3 pattern; they catch the light as I move and stretch. This shawl is incredibly soft; it clings to all the curves of my body. As I pull it around me tight, I am continually amazed by the ability of this garment to yield to the shape of my body. I feel safe; I feel held; I feel loved. I believe two things are happening here: a very primitive and early need is being touched and satisfied, and the prayer of another is seeping into the fiber of my being."

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