Patchwork Musings...

I have been thinking about patchwork quilts of late. I have been thinking how art reflects life, or perhaps it is vice-versa. Each patch, each stitch, represents some aspect of a life. One could run quite poetic with this kind of thinking.
Nature also is a good example of this. For example,when we lived in Lancaster County, there was a road not too far from us and a hill that we would drive up. The view from there was truly breathtaking. I would often just stop my car, a very safe and ordinary thing to do in Lancaster County, and just look out over the country side. There you could see all the farmhouses, barns and silos dotting the fields. The different crops colored the landscape with varied hues of green. It was so lovely, with not an electric or telephone line to clutter up your sight.
I recently saw a quote that read, "when life hands you scraps, make a quilt". Isn't that wonderful thinking? If one believes that all that is given is us, good , bad, or indifferent, passes through and comes from the hand of Ha'Kadosh, Barukh Hu, (the Holy One, blessed be He), it stands to reason that all must be for our good. I do not pretend for one moment to understand this concept, but I do believe it must be true. "Gamzu l'tova" we say, "This too is for the good". A high and lofty thought you might think, but indeed it is very simple and very childlike. Those of us who homeschool or have small children know they take delight in the most mundane and even not so lovely things. Memories of my children making mudpies and playing with old cardboard boxes come to mind. How they delighted in the mess they made!From them we learn not to throw out the scraps, the supposed useless, or the not so lovely. We take them and embrace them. We stitch them together and quilt them, binding together our past, our present and our future. Somehow trusting in the end we will take comfort, solace and peace in the beauty of our own patchwork life