The Tie that Binds

It arrived at our door as the sun was setting the night before the surgery, presented from the hands of a quiet woman who, along with others, had participated in its creation. Pieced from contrasting, yet harmonious fabrics, it is quilted to be warm and sturdy. Spaced over the body of the throw are short lengths of embroidery thread, tied with knots. It's bound at the edges, and on the sage-colored center piece, embroidered in a pleasing script:

 “For I am the Lord your God
who takes hold of your right hand and says to you,
‘Do not fear. I will help you.’”
-Isaiah 41:13

And on the corner:

 "Presented to Dan Summers
With love, hope, and prayers
Each knot represents a prayer prayed especially for you."

We often struggle to identify what to do when someone is shipwrecked with their hard time, don’t we? What would be most needful, and how might it be received? How could we comfort, support, and make someone feel seen, but respect their privacy at a time of medical need? We can become paralyzed with indecision.

 If the purpose is merely to keep warm, a patient can purchase a throw. But this one arrived with a card, the signatures on which represented over 150 brothers and sisters of all ages who stopped to tie a knot and pray. A moment of remembrance. A small thing, but a mighty one. An assurance that your hard time is remembered. That you aren’t alone. You are literally covered in prayer, bound with cords that cannot be broken to brothers and sisters interceding on your behalf.

My usually stoic husband was visibly moved, and so was I. This quiet ministry of compassion, the collective effort of sisters who dedicate the product of their meticulous handwork to acknowledge the suffering of others, opens a door for participation by all of us who worship at this place. A collective gift, binding us in prayer to a faithful God of healing, appealing for mercy for one of his own.

A tapestry of compassion, each participant a thread. Blest be the tie that binds.

"Before our Father's throne

we pour our ardent prayers;

our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,

our comforts and our cares."

 I’ll never walk by that table and leave the knot untied again.

-Patti Summers