Knitting into the Mystery: A Guide to the Shawl-Knitting Ministry

Lutheran, The, Mar 2004 by Brussat, Frederic, Brussat, Mary Ann

Knitting into the Mystery: A Guide to the Shawl-Knitting Ministry by Susan S. Jorgensen, a spiritual director and retreat leader, and Susan S. Izard, United Church of Christ minister, is an informative and inspiring guide to a spiritual practice that has given birth to a worldwide ecumenical movement. Think of a small group of people knitting together. An opening prayer has stitched them together in common purpose, and what they create out of their time, talent and love will nurture someone else and fill them with joy. This group brings to fresh life the ancient Celtic ideal of weaving a simple but satisfying practice into the mystery of God. Those who receive these shawls-perhaps someone facing an illness or a transition in their lives or mourning a loved one-find themselves swaddled in beauty, peace and pleasure.

This book contains chapters on the history of the shawl-knitting ministry, ideas on selecting yarn, keeping ajournai for each project, giving away a shawl, and receiving and wearing a shawl. The authors include prayers to be used at each phase of a project. One to be used as a prayer before knitting includes a "blessing to my hands to be the source of something of beauty and love ... a blessing to my yarn to be shaped into patterns of love and caring ... a blessing on the one who will receive the fruit of my prayer and my knitting." This is an essential volume for church libraries for, as the authors put it, "our hands are God's hands" (Morehouse).