Babies are brought regularly
to worship because they belong within the loving Christian community. Here,
we surround them with the symbols of our faith. Those symbols will be resources
to them throughout their lives; they will find those symbols all the stronger
because they incorporate them with their earliest experiences. One concrete
contribution we can make to "support them in their new life in Christ" is
to provide baby activity blankets for use during worship.
The blankets should be small
quilts, about 36 by 48 inches, appliqued on one side with a baby-appealing
variety of shapes and textures safely stitched in place, and showing themes
from the Word of God. Some appropriate themes (there are lots of others)
include:
- The Tree of Life (or the
Garden of Eden): A central tree bearing different kinds of fruit, one
man and one woman, animals and plants in harmony, possibly a fence or hedge
surrounding the whole.
- Noah's Ark: A boat,
a rainbow, pairs of animals male and female, the dove with an olive branch.
- The Creche: The Manger,
Mary, Joseph and the Baby, possibly the donkey and lamb. · The Good
Shepherd: A biblical shepherd, a flock of sheep. ·
- Fishers of Men: A
boat, fish net, anchor, fish, fishermen. · The Heavenly City: Palaces,
gardens, light, angels.
- The Exodus: Water,
people with flocks, tambourines and dancers, chariots in pursuit or being
washed away.
- The Burning Bush:
The bush, a shepherd holding a staff or a snake, sheep.
- Jonah in the Whale:
The Whale, Jonah, a boat, stormy sea, the fig tree, the city of Nineveh.
- Jesus blessing the children
·
- The triumphal entry:
Palm branches, Jesus and the Donkey, children.
- The Baptism of Christ:
Water, John and Jesus, the Dove descending.
- The Resurrection:
The empty tomb, the bare cross, flowers (especially lilies), butterflies.
Re-read the parables of Jesus, or
your favourite old-testament stories, to see if they incorporate important
images you can use. Or look through an illustrated bible or bible-storybook.
The symbols can be connected in a picture, or scattered about the blanket.
Use velveteen, satin,
fake-fur, plastic, leatherette, sequins or beads (well stitched!) to provide
tactile variety, on cotton or cotton-polyester. Large buttons and zippers
entertain little fingers well; even small safe toys tethered by bias tape
to a pocket may be incorporated.
Baby blankets
MUST be machine-washable.
- Double-check
and Triple-check stitching for security:
make sure there are no choke-hazards
on any blanket you make
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