Choir Notes

Handmade Gifts
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell . Program 4124

In today’s world of mass production, handmade items are more meaningful than ever. Beyond being well-crafted, original workmanship, they can be manifestations of love, personal evidence of our care and concern.

Think how heartwarming original drawings and less-than-perfect handwriting on a homemade card can be. Smell rolls fresh out of the oven, rather than in packages that preserve their shelf life; feel the warmth of a quilt that’s been pieced together one square at a time, hour after hour, day by day; touch the smooth finish on a handmade toy car—and you feel a connection with the person who made it. In every stitch, in every cut, in every shaping of such handiwork, is a little bit of its creator.

A newly married woman found extra meaning in a handmade wedding gift, a blanket that had been crocheted by her elderly friend. Fingering the loops of yarn, the bride counted 108 blue and white squares and smiled at the thought of her friend resting the blanket across her feeble knees as she crocheted. The blanket was more than a warm covering to the young woman; it was a tangible reminder of her friend’s love.

Whether a hand-sewn blanket or a handwritten note, such homemade items are filled with the human touch. Their mass-produced counterparts, though sometimes just as beautiful, don’t represent the same kind of time, effort, and care. Just as “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament [showeth] his handywork,”1 our creations can tell of our love for those most dear to us. Sometimes, generations later, a family member or friend might still enjoy the work of our hands and think of the person who cared enough to make it.

1 Psalm 19:1