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The Patchwork Quilt of Life
The Patchwork Quilt of Life
This is the story about the Quilt of Life.
In the old days, people all over the world were taking
care of the beautiful patchwork quilt, which gave life
to everyone on Mother Earth. It was a gigantic quilt
and they couldn’t see the people working with the
quilt on the other side. But it didn’t matter.
Everyone trusted each other; everyone knew that each
single person would do the best they could to make the
quilt look wonderful.
Each person was the caretaker of one particular patch.
The patches were all different because that is how a
patchwork quilt is made. The patches had different
colors, different patterns, and different designs. But
there was no envy because the patch makers knew that
once all the patches were connected, they would become
the beautiful Quilt of Life.
To put the patches together they used three special
stitches. The stitches were called Respect,
Humbleness and Responsibility.
One day, the white people working on the right side of
the quilt got lazy.
They realized the job could be done quicker if they
used machines.
So they started building factories and they were so
satisfied with their job, they went over to the left
side and the topside and the bottom side. And they
told all the people working there that they should
also use machines.
The Native people, working on all different sides,
said they didn’t want machines. Everyone knew that you
had to put your heart and soul into the patches. A
machine didn’t have a soul. And also, the machines
made everything look the same.
The white people got mad. Why would all the others
slow the process down, when they knew a better way of
doing it? They could make the patchwork quilt so much
faster and also, they wouldn’t have to work so hard.
The white people on the right side went over to the
Native people on the left side and threatened them.
They said: "You have to use machines so that you can
keep up with us. If you don’t use machines, we will
stop you from making patches and we will kill you so
that we, ourselves, can replace you and build our own
factories!"
The indigenous people on the left side got scared.
If this happened, the patchwork quilt would fall apart
and what would then happen to the world?
They tried to make patches in secret to save the
quilt. After a while, when white people realized the
people on the other side of the quilt wouldn’t use
machines even if they were threatened, they gave up
trying to convince them. They thought that the people
on the left side were slow and stupid and ignorant.
After having used their machines for several years,
some white people on the right side looked at the
factory made patches and realized they looked pretty
dull. They all had the same patterns and colors, it
sure didn’t look like a patchwork quilt anymore, and
they didn’t sparkle the way the patches of the
indigenous people did. Actually, the whole quilt
looked really bad. Some of the white people got
worried.
Maybe the factories were not that good after all?
Maybe they should go back to the old ways?
The elderly who used to make patches by hand were all
dead. So the white people went over to the left side
and said to the Native people there: "You have to show
us how to make patches! Our side looks horrible and we
can’t remember how to make them the way it used to
be!"
The Native people, who had kept their knowledge and
their patterns intact, knew that they couldn’t teach
them how to make patches. They knew the purpose with
the patchwork quilt was that all patches should be
different.
"You have to find your own pattern!" they said. "We
must make all the patches different just like our
ancestors did! If it looks the same it will no longer
be the Quilt of Life."
The white people got upset. First the indigenous
people didn’t want to use machines. And now they
wouldn’t teach them how to
NOT use the machines!
Some white people got really angry. They tore up the
left side where the Natives had made such lovely and
perfect patches.
They tried to take patches with them to the other
side. Some others, being less forceful, were trying to
imitate the patches on the left side. None of them
understood what the indigenous people meant when they
said that there were special patches for the left side
and other special patches for the right side.
The Native people were crying. The beautiful quilt was
torn to pieces.
There were big holes everywhere and they knew that if
they couldn’t mend it that it would be devastating for the
whole world. They worked so hard to mend it and to at
least save the left side of the quilt. Day and night
they tried.
And they did everything they could to save the
precious patchwork quilt.
Now, the white people went back to the right side and
desperately tried to fit the pieces they had stolen
together. But they wouldn’t fit. Then they tried with
the patches they had copied. But they didn’t fit
either.
So again they went over to the left side and said to
the indigenous people:
"It looks really terrible on our side of the quilt!
You HAVE to help us!"
The indigenous people were so busy mending the quilt
and since they were worried that the white people
would make new holes, they said: "Go away! We cannot
help you! Leave us alone!"
The white people tried yet again with all the
strange-looking patches. They tried to connect them to
the rest of the quilt but it didn’t work. They got so
mad and the harder they tore and twisted and turned
the patches, the more they broke the rest of the
quilt. The people on the other side cried:
"Stop! Stop! Please leave it alone!"
"But we can’t connect the pieces!" the white people
shouted back. "How do we put our patches together with
the rest of the quilt?"
The indigenous people looked at each other, looked at
the torn quilt and shook their heads. They saw the
white people jerking and tearing and using force to
mend the quilt. And they knew that all it took was
three stitches - respect, humbleness and
responsibility.
But white people had forgotten how to make stitches.
On all sides there were people with closed hearts
looking at the patch-makers. They did not understand
the beauty of the quilt but they did understand the
desperation of white people and they realized they
could benefit from this. So they made some cheap
copies of all the patches and they brought these to
the white people on the right side. "Here!" they said
and opened the big black bag with lots of patches.
"We have patches from all sides of the quilt. You can
pick and match. And we also have super-glue for sale.
This is the only way for you to connect the patches!"
White people loved everything that was quick. And they
appreciated not having to work hard. So they spent
lots of money and bought the glue and the different
patches. The patch-seller quickly became a hero! But
there were some white people who were skeptical. They
didn’t believe in using glue to make patchwork
quilts. And wasn’t the very making of the patches
something you did with your heart and soul, not with
your purse?
They tried to warn the others but they did not want to
listen.
They didn’t even listen when the color of the copied
patches came off. Or when they were falling apart.
They had spent so much money on these patches! All
they did was to put more and more glue on them, making
the quilt look worse than ever.
Some of them noticed something was wrong. So they
called for the patch-seller. They called and called.
But he was gone. He had taken his big black bag and
traveled all the way to the other side of the quilt.
He knew his glue didn’t work and he knew the color
would come off the cheap copies. And so he wanted to
sell as many patches as he could before people found
out.
The skeptical white people were looking at the torn
patches with tears in their eyes, realizing that what
they did was wrong.
They had memories of a beautiful patchwork quilt and
it broke their hearts to see how torn and dirty this
Quilt of Life had become.
And so they went with respect to the left side, they
said with tears in their eyes: "We don’t know how to
do this. Our knowledge is lost. We want the whole
quilt to look as beautiful as when our ancestors made
it.
We know that we must work together. We can no longer
show envy or anger or disrespect. We have done a lot
of things wrong in the past and we apologize for this.
Your patches are so beautiful. We will admire them
from the other side, but we know they are not for us
to have.
Instead we have to make our own patches, we have to
make them beautiful in our own way and we must start
from the beginning. Is there any way you can help us
get started for the sake of the quilt? We will listen
to you with open hearts."
An old aboriginal man stopped sewing and looked up.
"You have come with respect and humbleness!" he said.
"And you have shown a great responsibility because you
care for the whole patchwork quilt, not only your
side. You know about the stitches because the
knowledge has survived in you and that’s why you’re
here. You understand the way your ancestors made them.
So let me tell you something. A quilt was often made
by poor people. Some of the patches had lots of
patterns. Some had none.
Some were blue, some green, and some yellow. Some of the
patches looked very simple and plain. But when
everything was put together, and ONLY then, the
beautiful Quilt of Life came alive. You have been
trying for perfection and similarity instead of
simplicity, diversity and the beauty of joining
everything together. Your machines couldn’t put life
into the patches and so your patches looked dead and
gloomy. Now, when you start again, you must trust your
own heart. Do not look at anyone else.
Reach inside yourself for answers. Make your patches
simple. Because it is in the stitches the magic lies,
not in complexity! No matter how beautiful your
patches look, if the stitches are not there, the quilt
will never again be mended.
So he reached out his hand and the white people took
it with joy in their hearts and said they’d bring the
knowledge back home. They would tell the workers on
the right side to stop looking for perfect patches but
instead start practicing the stitches.
And so it was done. The white people had to start from
the beginning.
They made very simple patches, sometimes just with one
single color. But everyone could join in and no one
was envious of the intriguing patterns being made on
the other side. The people who knew the magic of the
stitches showed the others how to do them. When the
patches finally were joined together with the rest of
the quilt, the patches that before seemed so plain
suddenly contributed to the most wonderful pattern
they had ever seen! All of a sudden they were glowing
and shining.
And the people were stunned because of the beauty, not
only on the right side but also all over the quilt.
The indigenous people were so happy. Now when their
side was left alone they had time to mend all the
holes. And yet again, after hundreds of years, they
could see their beautiful quilt come alive! After that
day all the people swore that they would never again
forget the stitches and their love for the quilt would
never again get lost!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, remember this: Mother Earth is our quilt. We all
have our own patch to take care of and we all do it in
different ways.
Trying to imitate or steal Native American ceremonies
will not heal Mother Earth it will just injure her.
Because just like all patches must be different and
some patches fit on the right side, some fit on the
left side, all ceremonies are based on the place they
originate from. You cannot move them.
When you do, you make big holes in the Quilt of Life.
Your ancestors knew how to make these ceremonies and
how to take care of the place where you live. If the
knowledge is gone, you must start again.
You must look for simplicity because that is how a
quilt is made.
All it takes to make a patch is to go to a place out
in the nature, a place that is calling you. If you
use your heart, you will know what place it is. It
will find you. You are the caretaker of this place.
Stay there for a while, say a prayer to the lake, the
tree, or the mountain. Ask the nature what it needs. And
it will answer you, just like it did with your
ancestors.
It will not answer you that it needs sweat lodges or
Sundance’s or Indian spirits, because that is for the
other side of the quilt. It will instead tell you the
secrets of your particular side of the quilt. The
secrets that have been asleep for many years because
no one bothered to listen,
but they are still there, and you as a caretaker of
that particular place, has the obligation and
responsibility to listen.
It might not seem as "glamorous" as Native American
ceremonies. But don’t be fooled! Because; it is in the
stitches the magic lies. It is when you know your
patch, your particular part of Mother Earth, when you
feel your responsibility of being a part of the most
beautiful quilt in the world, when you in your heart
have no need to take other peoples ceremonies but
instead admire them from a distant, that is when magic
is created.
And when you do this, you will notice that after a
while people from the other side will reach out their
hands to you in an honest need to get connected. They
will approach you with the same trust and respect you
have shown the quilt - Mother Earth -, and that day
when your patch connects with patches all around the
world, first then will you really and truly understand
the beauty of working together for the benefit of
Mother Earth, and for the Quilt of Life.
Re-printed here with permission of the author who
wishes to remain anonymous.
Quoted from the author:
"The credit goes to all Indigenous people who have
tried for centuries to make deaf ears listen to this
message."
"Please feel free to post it wherever you want - and
this goes of course for everyone else."
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