Prayer Shawls: Yarn That Connects You to God's Love
(Posted December 12, 2019)
"Although not everyone is blessed with a healing touch, our touch can be a source of healing and blessing for others, especially when accompanied by a brief prayer." — Tom Cowan in "The Way of Saints"
Church Services on Sunday
Service begins at 10 a.m. All are welcome to worship with us.
This Sunday as we light the pink candle -- the one representing joy and the closeness of Christmas, it seems more than fitting that we also celebrate a mission of First Church -- our Prayer Shawl Ministry-- whose sole purpose is to bring a compassionate and companioning touch to people standing at the crossroads of life.
Why a Prayer Shawl?
Learn more about prayer shawls. Prayer Shawl “Knitter in Chief” Heidi Palmer’s piece about prayer shawls, the people who receive them, and the people who knit them.
We cannot underestimate the importance of a tactile presence during all the years of our lives. Sadly in this age when the mention of touching tends bear a very negative connotation, we have become a culture often starved for closeness. But we know for a fact that from birth, all mammals -- including us -- need a caring touch. Infants and baby animals who do not receive it often reflect what scientists call “a failure to thrive.” This need to be connected to others tactilely does not disappear when we humans mature. In fact I can’t think of anyone who needs it more than we do when we age, when family and friends are gone or no longer care to visit us, or when illness and loneliness start to, once again, prompt a failure to thrive.
And so, a group of dedicated people -- some brought together by the belonging of church, and others brought together by the very act of caring outside its walls, gather to knit -- and to pray. At the very moment when crisis isolates someone from their hope, and God’s love seems questionable or very far away, the kindness of “total strangers” wraps them in the yarn that connects them to that love. These are the acts of kindness that shepherd us through our roughest times. And that is in itself a joy, a pink candle amid the darkness of the season and of life’s challenges.
Come join with us Sunday as we celebrate the kindling of that light, and the people who make it happen. (You will be able to leave with prayer shawls or a pocket prayer shawl to give to people you know who are in need.)- Pastor Pat Kriss