Tag: Bible verses

The Tree of Life

The “Tree of Life” is the final quilt in my series of the seven gifts God gives to the faithful in the Book of Revelation.  Jesus says:”To him that overcomes, I will give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of Paradise.” (Rev 2:7).

The tree of life design appears in all cultures and ages; you will find it in Asian and Indian art, Persian carpets, in ancient Egyptian tombs, etc.  It symbolises life, fertility, immortality (in that the seed has to die in the ground for the tree to grow).  Its branches look like the arteries and veins in the human body, the life blood.  The pattern is also the same as the delta of a big river, so the river of life and the tree of life are closely related, the one needs the other.  In ancient Egypt, the date palm design symbolised royal power.

In Christianity, the tree of life appears in the Bible in the books of Genesis and Revelation.  In Genesis 2:9, it says: “The Tree of Life was in the midst of the garden (of Eden), and also the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”  After the Fall, when Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit off the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which they were not ready for yet, they had to be turned out of the Garden of Eden, in case they ate from the Tree of Life too, and became immortal.  An angel was placed with a flaming sword to guard the way to the Tree of Life (Gen 3:24).

Well, the whole history of mankind and redemption later, we find the Tree of Life again in the Book of Revelation, beside the River of Life: “with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves are for the healing of the nations.” (Rev 22:2).

It is comforting to know that the faithful won’t be forbidden to eat its fruit for ever.  It is one of the gifts given to those who overcome and persevere to the end. Also very comforting to know that its leaves will heal the nations, instead of them fighting and hating each other….  The whole situation of the Garden of Eden has been restored, and mankind back in its rightful place, but all on a bigger, more worldwide scale than in the beginning.

I feel a huge sense of relief and thanksgiving when I read this passage.  Everything is going to be all right, in the end, after all.

In my quilt of the tree of life, I have used twelve different coloured silks, for the twelve different kinds of fruit.  I wanted the design to be simple but striking, and also lively,  appealing and colourful, drawing you to it across the room.  I wanted it to have the joyfulness of running out into our garden through an orchard, with a deep blue sky and a rising-up sun, like I  used to do as a child.

Well, that is the last of my “Rev Sev” quilts, and here is a photo of them all together, as shown at Holy Trinity, Sloane Square at my solo exhibition there.

7 gifts or revelation

The White Stone

Continuing my series of the seven gifts given by God to the faithful, described in the early chapters of the Book of Revelation, we come to a favourite, the white stone.  The Bible text says: “To him who overcomes, I will give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.”(Rev2:17).

Above is my quilt wall hanging of the white stone, which I decided was best portrayed as a diamond.  If you look into the heart of a diamond, you do see some white, but also flashes of bright colours and multiple reflections.  The quilt was very difficult to make, as the outside pieced triangles were big enough to manage to sew together, but as I got towards the centre, the pieces got smaller and smaller and very fiddly, especially as I was using a variety of different white fabrics, some of them shiny and some stretchy, or overlaid with organza, so very difficult to sew together neatly…..

Around the outside are machine-embroidered cyrillic letters, some of it mirror writing, which says “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, who was and is, and is to come.” I was surprised to find that my sewing machine offered a Cyrillic alphabet, and mirror writing, so I thought it would make an effective quilted border.

I submitted this work to the V&A Museum in London as part of a competition where you had to make a work inspired by an item in their collections, so I chose one of their large diamonds in their jewellery gallery.  I was astonished and thrilled when my work was accepted, and shown in an exhibition with other winners at the V&A.  I made sure to get all my friends go and see it, especially those who had been a bit snooty about me taking up quilting as a second career, in later life…..    I keep this work as a special piece now, can’t bear to sell it.  So it is the only unsold one left of my “Rev Sev”(Revelation Seven) series.

But back to the text.  Whereas crowns and thrones are a bit distant and grand feeling, being given a stone with your special name on it by Jesus feels a very intimate and special gift.  It says to me, “you are unique, special, prized and valued by Me,” which is the most amazing and wonderful feeling for one who has always felt a bit rubbish, not worth anything.  And the special new name on it will be revealing!  God knows me only too well, so I wonder what it will be.  “Much afraid” maybe, or “Forever putting your foot in it”!  A bit like the nickname given to the apostles James and John: “the sons of thunder”, because apparently they had quite a temper…..  All part of the diversity of us human beings, and all valued as such, creating variety, an interesting social mix, not a boring bland samey lot.  Worth remembering that, next time someone is annoying you at church, or doesn’t seem to fit in.

Anyway, I hope and pray I persevere to the end, and “overcome”,  to receive this precious gift from God.  Something akin to a big hug!