One of the last stages of putting a quilt together is the binding. This is the band of fabric that goes around the outside of the quilt, enclosing the raw edges of all the layers of the quilt. Without the binding, things unravel and the exposed layers can come undone. Holding everything together is what makes the binding so important. That’s not to say there won’t still be some rips and tears in the course of a quilt’s life; but I’ve learned some good techniques for patch jobs.

When I’m putting the binding on a quilt, I often think of this verse from Psalm 139: “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” A hem does for clothing for binding does for quilting: holds things together and discourages unraveling.

I like to think of God hemming me in, helping to hold me together when I don’t feel like I can hold myself together. Knowing how intimately God knows me – knowing when I sit and stand, knowing my thoughts, literally being the force who knit me (another sewing word!) together in my mother’s womb…it is a comfort to me. It is a comfort to know we are not alone. We truly are God’s masterpieces, fearfully and wonderfully made. How often do you wake up and look in the mirror and say, “Good morning, masterpiece of God!” I wonder if we could learn to love ourselves better if we made that an intentional practice.

We are so deeply loved by our God who laid out the whole sewing kit to put us together deliberately and with deep passion. May we each walk through this world trusting in God’s steadfast love to sustain us and nourish us. May we imagine the invisible stitching holding us together so that even when we feel like we might fall apart, we do so knowing how good God is at patch jobs – God is in the business of resurrection, after all.

Rev. Rebecca (Becki) Mallozzi serves as pastor at Faith Church in Emmaus, Pa. She graduated from Waynesburg College (Pennsylvania) with her Bachelor of Arts in English and Communication and worked as a newspaper reporter before starting seminary. She graduated with her Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary.