"...For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace..."
This was the part of the Inaugural speech of President Barak Obama that made me smile the most. The open arms, the acceptance of differences, and for me, the acknowledgement that we are all strings of consequence. How can you have a quilt if you do not first have the threads overlapping and underlying - forming a square of uniqueness and diversity. Then others of us are bonders. We live in the space of separations, but use our own innate ability to weave in and out of foreign realities. We bring together the material of humanity and bind them into a greater whole.
Sign the back of the Quilt that is the United States of America - we all helped to create it. We all mend it when it gets worn and torn. We all enjoy its comfort and warmth.
I am proud and humbled. Oh... and frayed - NOT!
Pirates and Seamstresses learn how to make good tight knots. No being frayed allowed.