A Patchwork of Living and Oneness

How do you share a life's journey? How do you tie together hard work, creative artistry, deep faith, trials, fun, lessons, stories, differing viewpoints, and all the rest that makes up the piecemeal experiences we call life? As I reflected on the stories shared by Ophelia Hart I saw an image of a patchwork quilt come to mind. Quilters among us know how it goes. The old pants, worn bare in the seat from use; the bit of the well-used baby blanket, lovingly stored in the cedar chest for years; the snippet of red cloth that was left over from making Missy's Christmas Pageant costume 15 years before; the napkin you saw at the thrift store and couldn't pass up because of the interesting pattern - all these seemingly unrelated bits and pieces of cloth appear to clash but then magically come together to produce a magnificent quilt. In the midst of assembling the quilt, one often second guesses the choices and thinks that this mish-mash of color, pattern and texture will never blend; but in the end, a unique and priceless piece of memorabilia emerges, holding within its borders stories to be passed from generation to generation. This is how I envision Ophelia's stories. Wisdom gathered over a lifetime of experience, shared simply and with little fanfare, yet with a sense of humor and a self-effacing style that endears you to the storyteller as well as the stories. Sewn into the edges are a few favorite recipes. And somehow, it all comes together to produce a magnificent quilt of experience. So sit back, relax, and enjoy A Patchwork of Living and Oneness. A Patchwork of Living and Oneness editor