Can We Talk 2

Prayer Shawls

         A prayer shawl in a gentile setting has a loose interpretation. The bottom line is that you meditate or pray over something homemade that you give to a person going through a difficult or lonely time. It's a gift with a lot of feeling and thought. It's not always appreciated on the receiving end as much as on the giving end.

         Various churches or clubs may set up a prayer shawl ministry. they tend to run more to afghans than actual shawls, since not many people use shawls. Judging from the hot sales of "throws" during the holidays, everyone can use an afghan. You don't want to risk losing one in a hospital, but a nursing home or senior home is a good place to have one. Where people in a home disagree about temperature control, an afghan can come in handy for TV watching or reading. Even in the summer, we run the ceiling fan all the time. So in the evening, I like a lightweight afghan to keep me from freezing from the brisk fan air, while I'm curled up in my favorite easy chair.

         Yarn is not free. So even though you may not like the way it looks, it cost the giver to make it for you. A single size afghan for an adult can run over $20 with the cheapest bulk yarn, $40 for the double width that will sit on top a bed. You can buy even more expensive yarn, but I usually avoid that for afghans because they are so easy to get caught in reclining mechanisms or be cut by children. It's bad enough to lose the hours of labor. The time is another factor that raises its worth. I found a pattern book that promises an afghan a week. I tried, spending 4 or more hours every night, and barely finished at the two week mark. At miniumum wage, that afghan was over $100. It was a beautiful shade of brick red in Vanna's Choice.

         We're going to try it. Several people are already crocheting or knitting afghans and even shawls for a giveaway program. Some will have a big prayer over it at the end. I tried a little meditation each day that the one who receives it will receive comfort and joy. We'll dispense them through the church to people in the community who have lost a child or have moved to a senior care facility or experienced other trauma. We hope that the unexpected gift will bring warmth and a reminder that there are loving, giving people around them.