Dorcas Prayer

for stitchers, crafters, creatives, sharers…

(Read the relevant Word in Texts, below)

We pray for our communities, and in solidarity with the peoples of the earth.

 

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We give thanks for all who wield needle and thread, knitting needle and yarn, crochet hook and cotton, sewing machine, fabric and fibre, to create gifts of generosity and care.

We think of our fore-mothers, stitching because they had to, piecing together animal skins and fur, grasses and leaves, bones and shells; sharing advice and stories of survival—mothers, grandmothers, aunties.

We remember generation after generation, weaving vegetable fibres, inventing needles from bone, adapting basketry to weave simple shrouds to wrap the dead: splicing yarn, developing looms, spinning, weaving, dyeing, creating… we think of fabrics, designs and cultures shared along the Silk Road and crossing oceans and trade route borders.

We give thanks for those who, like Dorcas, continue to create for those in need:

individuals and organisations like Crafty Volunteers and Creative Fibre, and dozens of groups, small and large, who make clothes for women’s refuges, for Foster Hope, for cancer sufferers, for premature babies—thousands and thousands of knitted, sewn, crocheted and felted creations every year;

women of many faiths and cultures, gathering in communities of care; we give thanks for those who share generously and craft with love in every stitch.

We give thanks, too, for all those who care for us in our times of need; who understand that prosperity and privilege do not protect from illness and despair; who stitch together the frayed edges of our lives and help us become whole again.

We give thanks for the many ways that love is shared:
through art and music and patchwork and photography,
for public art projects that advocate for social justice,
for art therapy for people who have disabilities,
for designers and makers deliberately de-gendering children’s clothing,
for the crafters and artists who highlight indigenous issues and preserve sacred culture,
for all who remake and upcycle and re-use to avoid overcrowding landfills and the earth;
for the meditative, prayerful, healing rhythms of weaving, quilting, binding together with thread and grace.

For the simple gifts of baking & hospitality,
growing and sharing from orchards & garden beds,
for those who ensure clean water and pesticide-free food,
for donations to food banks and charity shops,
for generosity without reward, helping hands and caring hearts that seek no recognition,
for charities who hold public appeals, and need to spend on publicity and administration,
for creators and re-creators of the commonwealth of love, tomorrow and today—we give thanks.

Like Dorcas, may we never tire of doing good, and helping those in need.

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Word in texts: Acts 9:36-39 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

In Joppa there was a follower named Tabitha. Her Greek name was Dorcas, which means “deer.” She was always doing good things for people and had given much to the poor. But she got sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Joppa wasn’t far from Lydda, and the followers heard that Peter was there. They sent two men to say to him, “Please come with us as quickly as you can!” Right away, Peter went with them.

The men took Peter upstairs into the room. Many widows were there crying. They showed him the coats and clothes that Dorcas had made while she was still alive.

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