The top cover on my bed on these cold nights is a patchwork quilt, made by a friend from a church I once served. There are 378 patches in all, each one four inches by four inches square. The squares are attached to the backing by yarn ties that are knotted on top of the quilt, giving it a memorable appearance. Pulling it up above my shoulders recently as the temperature sank below freezing, was a blessing in fabric.
There is another patchwork quilt stored in the bedroom, should it be needed. It is often rotated year by year with the other. This one is older. It was made by my grandmother. It has 1,892 squares, each the size of one and one-half inches. My grandmother never had a sewing machine. This quilt was stitched entirely by hand. I can still see her morning, afternoon, or evening, sewing quilts or any number of other things, used to warm or cover the body. Arthritic and bent, those fingers still stayed busy.
My grandmother was a rather amazing woman. She broke her hip late in life. It never quite healed the way it should have and she used a crutch to get around, even ascending two flights of stairs with some regularity to access her bedroom or her work room. She even managed to keep two rowdy siblings in check (most of the time) when their parents were away, (except for the time my sister threw me on the coffee table and broke it).
Maybe, like her, some people still sew a quilt together these days by hand, using fabric from different sources. I doubt there are many. My grandmother didnt throw out an old dress, or a worn blanket, or a badly stained shirt. Salvageable material was saved and used again, or several bolts of different colors and patterns were purchased to be cut and squared. Then little by little, the squares came together to become an infinitely meticulous and awesome creation.
It takes time, patience, skill, devout attention and committed intention, to make a patchwork quilt. In the same way, it takes all of those qualities and more to make a patchwork country like ours.
We are one of the most diverse countries in the world, what many have labeled a melting pot. Some find that term offensive and prefer the idea of a rich stew, with distinct ingredients that lend themselves to an unusually bountiful result.
Whatever the terminology, we are certainly a unique combination of races, cultures and backgrounds. And although we have had our struggles as a people, trying to attach the squares of our patchwork country together in a meaningful whole, we have continued to work diligently, patiently, skillfully, devoutly, stitch by stitch, year by year, to sew them together. After all, the different colors, patterns and backgrounds in my grandmothers quilt is what makes it so unique and beautiful. That goes for countries too!
Unfortunately, there are those who cannot appreciate a 100-year-old, hand stitched quilt. They want the newer machine-made product. In the same way, some no longer appreciate a 250-year-old patchwork country. It takes too much trouble to keep the patches together. Its a time consuming and energy intensive process. They want the product quick and easy, with no rough edges.
So if people of color need to be removed and deported, so be it. If the first inhabitants need to be further isolated, so be it. If governmental stitches that hold us together in body, mind and spirit need to be removed, so be it. If our usual processes of working together need to changed, so be it. If the stitches of the old country cant be loosened or cut, throw the whole dam quilt into the furnace.
These days, as the patches in my country unravel, as the cuts and threats of this administration make sleep more difficult, Im grateful not only for the warmth of my quilt but for the work and commitment it models. It reminds me we keep our patchwork country together with the committed hands of tireless workers: grandmothers, mothers and fathers, young and old, adding a stitch here and a stitch there, all together making a beautiful quilt together; reflecting the colorful and diverse quality of life democracy makes possible. Lets keep stitching.
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