"Don't wish me happiness I don't expect to be happy all the time....It's gotten beyond that somehow. Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor. I will need them all." Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Monday 5 August 2019

Bethel United Church




I visited this church one Thursday morning. It is located at the end of a paved road amongst the fields before the road transitions into gravel. While my daughter caught grasshoppers I drew a sketch in my journal. A man with a ladder in the back of an old truck wearing work clothes showed up and parked. I watched from a respectable distance as he unloaded several buckets of water and carefully hand watered two graves that shared a tombstone. His gentle action brought tears to my eye's. Were they his parents? After he left I moved closer to the church and than I saw what looked like two white doves but in reality they must have been pigeon's take off together from a ledge above the church door. Like swirling ribbons they ascended into the blue sky. There was a monument stating a brief history. The church was constructed in 1873 as a Methodist church with Rev. Francis Metherall officiating. It would later became an United Church. Before we left I picked a bouquet of wildflowers that grew along the road at the edge of the field. I plan on weaving this church and this is the sketch I drew in my journal that day. The church tells of rural island life long ago and still appreciated today.

10 comments:

  1. Those little churches do indeed have a story to tell.

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  2. What a beautiful peaceful picture you have woven. xo Laura

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    1. Hi Laura This is a sketch made with a bamboo pen and ink in my journal. The next step is to draw my cartoon and from that I weave the tapestry. I hope that helps to understand the process further. Thanks for commenting- they make me smile. Ronda

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  3. So charming! I can't wait to see the weaving...

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    1. Hi Kim Tapestry weaving is slow and currently I already have a piece on the loom that I am weaving. This one will be next although that is month’s away from happening. I hope that gives you a better insight to the process.

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  4. What a beautiful setting for your weaving, it will be beautiful! Such a tender gesture of the elderly man watering the grave! How interesting to hear the history of this little church!

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  5. Hi Marilyn I actually made another recent visit to the church as I found a discrepancy between my sketch and the one in my mind. I have really enjoyed my time in the church parking lot. It has brought me a lot of joy. Ronda

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  6. Oh, please post a picture of your weaving when you are done! The doves are beautiful. What a poignant story!

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  7. Yes, I will absolutely post a picture. On my second visit I noticed lilies but they were not blooming. Of course I had to go back to see them in bloom. There were so many everywhere along the road beside the church. I wonder how they got there. It was amazing. It was a warm summer evening and we lingered there for a very long time until I spotted a huge plume of dust coming down the red, dirt road towards us and we took off on the cement in the other direction. I watched in my rear view mirror and it turned out to be a gravel truck. It’s amazing how fresh those lilies looked even with all the dust.

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