by Anita Benedict
I have described my self as a spiritual person more than a religious person, but I do enjoy my church family in Noel. I believe in doing good and I believe in acceptance of all yet reject hatred; especially if it is out of ignorance. While I dislike the word “sin” the Seven Deadly Sins have certainly caused a lot of angst. Envy, gluttony, greed or avarice, lust, pride, slothfulness, and wrath. I have to watch the last one myself, been feeling a lot of wrath at the injustice in the world right now.
I recently had the pleasure of attending a birthday party for a 79-year-old stranger while visiting my daughter. It was held in the Rose Purdy Recreation and Community Centre in Arcadia. As we walked in the door, there were beautiful framed images of the Seven Sacred Teachings of love, respect, honesty, courage, truth, wisdom, and humility along the wall. While I have not studied them, I was drawn to their positivity after they were explained to me by a Mi’kmaq elder a few years ago.
At that birthday party I saw all seven in use and felt warmly welcomed despite being a last-minute guest. I am grateful my daughter has these friends while living away from us, they are an extended family.
With all this running around in my head, I have had to take a step back from whatever was causing wrath to build up inside me. So easy to get riled up when you see things on Facebook, it is exhausting fact checking and I have had to “snooze” a few people to keep from seeing utter nonsense. The seven deadly sins are in full swing and too many people are in line with it.
So, with that in mind, I am going to focus more toward the three virtues of faith, hope, and love and look at those Seven Sacred Teachings a bit more. As our church approaches Lent, I want to focus more on giving rather than what to “give up”. Sure, I could give up sugar, not coffee though especially if I want to avoid wrath, but a few years ago, someone suggested doing good for Lent. My thought will involve me giving up something too; some of my yarn stash.
I am going to ask members of our congregation that knit or crochet to give up an hour (or less) of their day to knit or crochet a specific size block. At the end of Lent, we will have enough blocks to make a lovely “lapghan” or even two for Hospice. I am hoping these Lenten Lapghans will be colourful, unique and meaningful. Putting them together will be a great project as well; advice on how to do it properly is welcomed.
Because I am a yarn hoarder, bought to make lapghans, I will make sure there are some balls of soft yarn available. I am sure there are a few “sins” in there of gluttony and greed I could work on purging by sharing my yarn. Is it possible to “lust” after yarn?
Lent starts on March 5th this year right after Pancake Day!
Commentaires