A quilt suggests that many and varied pieces can successfully be assembled and stitched together to create a beautiful and functional whole without any of the pieces losing their unique characteristics. This refers to life, you and me, families, neighbors and the world.
Someone once said that as we were planning our life like squares for a quilt in many piles—an angel sat before us sewing our quilt—creating a tapestry that becomes our life. In quilting we take whole pieces of fabric or sometimes unused clothing and cut them up into pieces, only to sew the pieces together again in a new way. And when finished, we end up with something more beautiful than when we started.
An activity at the Christmas Devotional and Social for volunteers and workers at the Service Center in the Upper Hill, Nairobi, Kenya, meetinghouse, included this quilt metaphor. Participants were asked to produce a “quilt block” on paper using the #LightTheWorld advent calendar and illustrate what one of the ‘25 ways’ meant to them.
At the end of 15 minutes the paper blocks were assembled into a quilt on the bulletin board and a non-biased judge gave the groups a number to pick a reward of a little trinket wrapped in red and tied with ribbon.
The trinket, perhaps a packet of needles and spool of thread, or tinned tuna or a local artist’s Christmas card. These gifts could be used in some way to fulfill the 25 ways, over 25 days to celebrate the life of Jesus Christ by following His teachings, by letting His light shine—in our lives and in the lives of others.
This is what the people are looking for, something different from what the world has to offer. The world doesn’t need to see hypocrisy. They don’t want to hear our mouths say one thing but see our actions ‘say’ another. #LightTheWorld encourages us to show genuine faith in our Savior who has the power to heal broken lives, to change us from the inside out, and to recreate our life pieces into something beautiful.
