January 16, 2005
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My craft cupboard is now a thing of beauty and a joy forever (Keats) or at least decent and in order (1 Corinthians). I even took pictures, which I will post once they are out of the camera. That is the trouble with housekeeping, of course -- the results are fleeting, so you have to enjoy them in the moment. Mayflower and I have a little yarn swap underway -- I will be pleased to have been able to contribute even in so small a way to the absolutely gorgeous sweater she is making. The grunge mittens are finished and Hopkins is just perking along, so I now must decide whether to go ahead and make the cabled mittens I had originally planned, or join the Sockuary and make a pair of socks. There is also still another pair of slippers needing to be knitted.
Really, I agree with Elizabeth Zimmerman that all those little wooly things should be knitted in the summer. They are small, so it doesn't make you feel hotter to work on them when the weather is too sultry for a lap full of wool. And, as Zimmerman points out, mittens knitted while cold hands are crying out for them tend to be skimped because you're hurrying.
However, when I am doing something complex like Hopkins, I like to have something simple to turn to when I get tired of complexities.
The thing that I am finding most complex in my life right now is my church membership. My family joined the church I now attend (and I have to say "I," because my menfolk will not go with me any more and my daughters are in different states) because it had excellent preaching, a strong commitment to education and community service, and a fine music program. There were five choirs, and we had someone in each. I became an elder and all of my kids were very active.
Then we had a change of pastor and a change of direction. My kids would no longer attend with me. And I spend less time there myself, and am less happy with the time I do spend there.
If you are unhappy with your grocery store or hairdresser or mechanic, you change to another. If you are unhappy with your family, you stick with them and do all you can to work it out. So the question for me, I suppose, is this: is a church really a "church family," as we always say, which you cannot leave without great upheaval? Or is it just a community group which can be entered and left depending on your level of satisfaction?
One of my goals for this year is to make a decision. Either I stay with my current church and commit myself to it -- and stop complaining -- or I find a new one. So I am planning to visit some other churches. There are two others of my denomination within reasonable driving distance. There are three others in my neighborhood. And there is at least one other where I know a lot of the people and would feel at ease. The three groups do not, unfortunately, overlap.
Comments (5)
I've been a PK all my life (well, until my dad became a prof when I got to college) , so I definitely understand your quandary! I've seen first hand unhappy people/ change of direction/ church splits... it's no fun! I think there is a level to which people should try to "work it out" ( because America IS a society of quick fixes/ instant gratification) BUT at the same time, if the direction of a church doesn't follow your personal direction in life... that's a situation that I feel can't be remedied by sticking around! Every situation is different though...*shrug* good luck with that!
yep, that number is lotus blossom! When elann first came out with the highland wool, I somehow saved all the colors on my computer (I don't remember doing it! haha) It doesn't have the actual color names, just lots of numbers and letters. Do you want me to send you the color square for wisteria via email?
thanks for the trade..you're a lifesaver! (or sweater saver I suppose..hehe)
I'm not a churchgoer myself (I get the general impression from reading journal entries that NZ is somewhat more secular than the US) but I too would imagine that, if you suspect that the direction your church is heading off into is no longer the direction you wish to wander your best option is to look for a more compatible church direction. I guess the decision rests upon what you consider the most important - the secular community-type activites of the church (which I assume have not changed) or the faith/belief part (can't think of an appropriate term for what I mean). If the former, there would be little need to look elswhere, if the latter....
I've changed churches a time or two. But my menfolk (which is all of my immediate folk, unless you count my dog and one cat) are simply not interested. I decided if I need to go to church, I will go for me, but not expect anyone else to go.
Good luck finding one that suits you. Don't give up if it is important to you.
(Should have added this on to my previous comment)
And a 'non-stereotype' broken - we don't see the characters in US sitcoms and US crime/law dramas knitting so I have to ashamedly admit that I would never have associated Americans and knitting in the same thought - my humblest apologies and please don't lynch me
(Actually I have just had a mental image of the forensic scientist leaning over yet another corpse dead by violent means - with a pair of knitting needles clicking calmly while he/she elucidates for the watching characters what the probable cause of death was.)
My family has been thoroughly non-religious since forever, so I've never had the experience of going to church and being a part of that community, so I would not know. However, i think it depends on what kind of a bond you've formed with the people of that community. Anyway, good luck with that. Peace.
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