- By -
- Around Town
Print 
The rare luxury of browsing through a bookstore, with no purchase or subject in mind, sometimes brings surprising results. For instances, I found many answers to a long pondered question "Is it just a creative surge or is it true spirituality I feel when doing any kind of fiber craft?" in two books by Susan Gordon Lydon. In the introduction of the book "Knitting Heaven and Earth", Mrs. Lydon writes "I had a hunch that this seemingly simply and inscrutable activity [knitting] that had brought me so much pleasure and wisdom and sustained generations of women before me might have far more to it than met the eye... the practice of handcraft, and the journey toward mastery of craft, had provided women with profound spiritual nourishment that had for the most part remained a secret part of their inner lives."
In the beginning of "The Knitting Sutra", Mrs. Lydon writes "This is a book about a journey with spirituality through the medium of craft". Then, toward the end, she comments that she "learned while writing this book that the purpose of the craft is not so much to make beautiful things as it is to become beautiful inside while you are making these things." In between, she explains how the knitting and spiritually were each enhanced by the other in some of the most unusual, interesting and adventurous ways.
Mrs. Lydon not only writes how "A willingness to believe in what cannot be seen is a cornerstone of the spiritual life" she explores this as a continuing theme in both books. Another continuing theme, that of quoting from other books, individuals, faiths and cultures from which she has gleaned the ingredients for her own devout spirituality to become "a person who owns myself” should be incentive to read more about those subjects.
She writes of various therapies and medical procedures she's undergone, but implies that the "Forget therapy; just knit school of stress reduction" makes as much sense as all the above, noting the peacefulness that settles over her while knitting. Specifically, that "The craft of knitting has been one of the great enduring loves of my life".
Though Mrs. Lydon writes of the same incidents in both books, she does it in such a refreshing way that it doesn’t distract from the spiritual grounding she says she achieved through her experiences.
My favorite paragraphs reinforced personal feelings about "enjoy the activity [again, knitting] for its own sake" and "focus on the journey rather than the goal."
There is much to identify with in these books. For instances, when reading of her experience with the phrase "Let go and let God", I was reminded that several of the Lansing Christian Women who walked the Labyrinth at The Church of the United Ministry in Aurora saying this phrase had come into their minds at the time of their entering the labyrinth. When she wrote of prayer shawl ministries, I remembered my own peaceful pleasure when making several. And of the woman at the conference on "The Graying of the Church" who sat in a corner, knitting a prayer shawl the entire time.
Sue Bender, author of Plain and Simple: A Journey to the Amish, writes in a liner note: "An important reminder of how to find the sacred in everyday life." While these books tell of one woman's not-so-ordinary life and her extraordinary spirituality, they establish a pattern for inclusion of the sacred in everyday life.
Were I in charge of assigning reading lists, these two books would be on it. They will make you laugh, and cry, and pray. And read some pages over and over again. They'll make you reach for the highlighting pens to mark important phrases until the pages are fully colored in. These two books will really make you think about spirituality. They may even have you reaching for your knitting as a way of becoming more spiritual!
----
v1i20