Musings on Creation

A midrash teaches: “When the world was created, God made everything a little bit incomplete. Rather than making bread grow out of the earth, God made wheat grow so that we might bake it into bread. Rather than making the earth of bricks, God made it of clay so that we might bake the clay into bricks. Why? So that we might become partners in completing the work of creation.”

Today's Daily Word - Thursday, March 12, 2009
Cocreator
A new me has emerged.

Watching accomplished athletes execute their skills with perfection, I may consider their performances to be easy and effortless. I know, though, that they have dedicated years of practice toward honing their skills.

There is truth in the adage "practice makes perfect." My spiritual practices of prayer and meditation, faith and trust are more than skills. They are a way of life, a way of living in awareness of who I am and what I can accomplish as a cocreator with God.

With a dedication of my time and understanding, my heart and soul to God, I am spiritually enriched. I am renewed in spirit, mind, and body, and my life is a reflection of the new me that has emerged.

"You have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator."--Colossians 3:9-10

It is interesting to think of ourselves as in partnership with God. Many religions make a point of elevating and separating God from us. If this were our true relationship with God, it would be almost impossible to work with God to complete creation - to become co-creators with God. Yet everyday we experience how Humans and God have come together to create amazing things - medicines, technologies, art, music. God must be much closer to us than we have often been taught.

My personal belief is that the life energy that animates us is God energy - our consciousness is but an individualization of God consciousness. Humans are one way that God expresses itself in the Universe. Everything we do, say, or think is an aspect of co-creating with God.

The question today and every day is - How will I express God today? How will I use this vast store of creative energy in this moment? What will I knit?

Sheep were not created clad in sweaters but with fleece so that we could make yarn and knit, weave, and crochet that yarn into wonderful garments, and afghans and washcloths and countless other things. What will I knit with God today?

Knitting Tools and Projects

For about a year now I have had a strange, deep desire to own a yarn winder. It started the moment I knew that such a contraption existed and was relatively inexpensive. The challenge I faced in getting one is that none of the craft stores or LYSs had one. Oh sure they could order one for me, but there are some things that, for some inexplicable reason, I won't buy sight unseen or without being able to handle it before purchasing. The yarn winder fell into this category.
Last week my beloved and I took an impromptu trip to Lawrence, KS (about 30 mins. from KC). There were a couple of places on Massachusetts Avenue that I have been wanting to visit for some time and just haven't made the trip over - Waxman Candles and Yarn Barn.

Waxman Candles has the most wonderful, scented votives. I try to pick up a few whenever I am there.

The Yarn Barn is a great yarn store that I have wanted to visit and this trip gave me my first opportunity. The store is spacious and has a wonderful selection of yarns. Over on one side there are a couple of tables set up with swifts and - you guessed it - yarn winders. My man immediately asked if that was the contraption that I had been mooning over for a year. Upon my affirmative he asked the clerk who was using the winder if they had any for sale. "We sure do," she said pointing to a stack of square white boxes.

So now I am the proud owner of a manual crank yarn winder.

It is so easy to use and is almost as therapeutic as knitting. I love the center-pull "yarn-cakes" that it creates. They are easy to knit with and store so much easier than a ball or a skein. How did I ever knit without one?

This past week I also got a wild notion to knit a lace shawl. Now normally I try to knit things that I would find useful. As I don't have much call to wear a shawl and really don't have the je ne sais quoi needed to make one look good, I have never thought of knitting one. So I found it very odd that I felt this pull to begin knitting lace shawls.

I blame the men at MenWhoKnit.com. Many of the gents there knit the most beautiful, light, and intricate lace shawls. I don't feel that I have flexed my knitting muscles fully until I have applied them to knitting lace.

Upon starting, I quickly learned that I would need long, circular needles - not to knit in the round necessarily but to easily spread out the ever growing stitches of a shawl. My local craft stores don't carry circulars that are very long, but I did find a set of interchangeable circular needles that would allow me to create the length I would need.

So now I am set for knitting for a while. Except of course that now my wonderful hubby-to-be wants me to knit a shawl for his mother as a gift for our wedding. "Hello, Yarn Barn? I need a mess of yarn please -- red."

Stay tuned.