Common bonds

I recently took part of a discussion on Ravelry about the foods that our mother’s cooked. Many of us have fond memories of the chicken & dumplings or potato salad that our mothers’ made. I think my mother makes the best chicken and dumplings and potato salad on the planet. My mom thinks her mother made both recipes better and my grandmother, in turn, thought her mother, my great-grandmother, made these foods best. I use exactly the same ingredients as my mother and my grandmother yet my versions don’t taste like theirs.

Neither of these dishes is complicated, they use ordinary ingredients, yet I am amazed by how many people have fond memories of the chicken & dumplings or potato salad that their mother or grandmother made. I have often wondered if it was actually the food that was so good or the fact that we were surrounded by those who loved us when we ate.
Still, there is no doubt that food ties us to one another. My grandmother shared her recipes with my mother who shared these same recipes with me. I, in turn, am now sharing them with my own children. These humble recipes bind us together as a family. But they also tie us to other people when we share common memories of how all our moms cooked our favorite foods. It is these little moments that help us realize that, though we are all often very different, we also have common bonds that bind us all together.

Knitting is one of those common bonds. All knitters, no matter their age, location, family status, ethnic background or standard of living, share a common language - the language of knits and purls. We may spell knit and purl differently, we may perform the stitches differently, and we have different pattern preferences but we are all drawn together by yarn and needles.

When you meet someone with needles in hand, you automatically connect with them. Knitting forms a kind of Sisterhood (and Brotherhood) of the Traveling Yarn. That person with needles in hand is instantly my friend because she is a member of the knitting sisterhood.

Similarly, Christianity also creates these amazing common bonds. No matter where I go, I have a brother or sister in the faith somewhere nearby. We are all connected by Christ, our adopted Brother. We all have the same Father. My church family is there to support me just like my physical family. Sometimes, they must bolster me when I face difficult times. Other times, I am the one doing the supporting. We share pain, weariness, joy and an occasional knitting pattern or recipe.

I am thankful for the friends that I have made through knitting. But I am particularly thankful for those knitters who are also my Christian sisters and brothers. We have a bond much deeper than sticks and string. We have the same goal in life – a heavenly home. In addition, I greatly appreciate those delightful people who follow this blog and take the time to comment. It is always exciting and encouraging to hear from fellow fiber enthusiasts and fellow Christians. But most of all it is wonderful to have that common bond to knit us together.

...that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. - Colossians 2:2-3