{"id":12894,"date":"2018-06-30T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2018-06-30T08:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/?p=12894"},"modified":"2025-01-09T19:53:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T19:53:12","slug":"joint-winner-1-a-prayer-pilgrimage-with-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/2018\/06\/30\/joint-winner-1-a-prayer-pilgrimage-with-a-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 Joint Winner 1 – At the heart: A prayer pilgrimage\u2026 with a difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

The theme for the 2018 Competition was At the heart…<\/em>, and two entries were deemed equally worthy of first prize.<\/p>\n

At the heart:<\/strong>
\nA prayer pilgrimage… with a difference.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bowing my head over the needles and yarn,
\nI offered a prayer for the one who would receive it –
\nmy first prayer shawl.
\nSlowly and carefully
\nI began the casting on, 1,2,3,4,
\nthe needles dipping rhythmically,
\nin, out, in, out until, 62, 63, 64, 65!
\nA quick check –\u00a0 yes, 65.<\/p>\n

So began the task that I had set myself.
\nIt was to be a journey not measured in miles,
\nbut in inches.
\nNevertheless, I was embarking upon a true pilgrimage.
\nThere would be pauses on the way and breaks for refreshment.
\nI had no idea how long it would take, as,
\nsome days there would be great progress
\nwhilst others there would be virtually none.
\nHowever, I did know that, at the heart, and
\nwoven into every stitch,
\nwould be prayer.<\/p>\n

Now and again I stopped and held the work
\nand prayed.
\nI asked that the one who would hold it,
\ncuddle it, wear it, even cling to it,
\nmight experience a special peace and calm,
\nand know that, at the heart,
\nwas not only a labour of love,
\nbut a desire that they would feel
\nenfolded in the love of God<\/p>\n

Growth was slow.
\n64 inches a long way off.
\nWhen would I ever finish it.
\nNeedle- in-yarn-round-and-off
\nNeedle-in-yarn-round-and-off.<\/p>\n

Each time I took it up
\nmore prayer was added.
\nAs it grew I often paused
\nand silently blessed it.<\/p>\n

The soothing actions kept me going.
\nI felt steeped in prayer and
\nexperienced a wonderful peace.
\nI had a deep sense of God\u2019s presence
\nas I continued building up the fabric.<\/p>\n

Needle-in-yarn-round-and-off became my silent mantra.
\nHundreds of times over and over, rhythmically repetitive,
\nuntil the day came when the rhythm changed.
\nNeedle-in-yarn-round-and-off-and-off-and off!
\n65 times!<\/p>\n

As I held it up I felt like rejoicing, and I did.
\nI prayed with it held close to my cheek.
\nI let it run through my hands
\nas I prayed,<\/p>\n

Bless the one who will receive it, Lord.
\nEnvelop them with peace and tranquillity.
\nMay they know that this
\nhumble gift is prayerfully offered,
\nand that,
\nat the heart\u2026
\nis love.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9 Margaret Doughty, 2018<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Download this winning entry as a pdf here<\/a>
\nCopyright remains with the writers in each case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The theme for the 2018 Competition was At the heart…, and two entries were deemed equally worthy of first prize. At the heart: A prayer pilgrimage… with a difference. Bowing my head over the needles and yarn, I offered a prayer for the one who would receive it – my first prayer shawl. Slowly and carefully I began the casting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9112,"featured_media":12895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[576,83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-julie-hulme-writing-competition","category-news-events"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 06:08:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}