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Divine stitchery

 

And the LORD God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.   Genesis 3:21

I like to imagine that those skins

from which garments were fashioned

were the skins of the snake

Skins God found in the undergrowth

of that perfect world of Eden

Shed because they were surplus to requirement

as the snake grew too big for its own skin

Skins that Eve wrapped around her

that would serve to remind her

of the choice she made

to expand her horizon

Choosing to gift all who came after

with autonomy

a wide and generous vista of hope and possibility.

And I imagine the thread the Divine Being used

in their stitchery

was sparkly

catching the light

casting a shimmering aura

wherever it was encountered 

hinting at that great web of weaving women

whose labour encircles the universe.

And when Eve, who carried within her

the seed of all humanity

herself grew large

when her fecundity was realised 

and her stretch marks

were etched on the snake skin

she, too, shed that skin

and struck out

beyond the confines of patriarchal subjugation

without a backwards glance.

As she placed her baby to her breast  

she caught the sound of divine laughter in the suckling

and knew that never again

would she consent to wear

a skin that was not her own.

Liz Crumlish February 2026

St Brigid

Brigid

The saint who liked to gather folk round

to hear their stories

and soak up the wisdom of the ancients

With persistence she fought 

for a place at the table

and brought her sisters with her

Confounding every obstacle encountered on the way

she held space

widened the circle

kept the fire burning

and still, today

points to the light

as winter gives way to spring

and the light returns

Liz Crumlish, St Brigid’s Day, 2026

Barista

 

Showed up at breakfast

without much appetite

anxious about the day ahead

Hadn’t slept much the night before

tossing and turning in the strange bed

listening to unfamiliar sounds

fretting that I wouldn’t be enough

for the critical audience I’d encounter 

the next day, at a cross professional gig.

I waited irritably to be acknowledged

and shown to a table

wondering why I’d bothered 

to come to the restaurant

Why hadn’t I just made coffee in my room?

And then, as he took my order,

he called me ‘sweetheart’

And I felt my shoulders relax

and my breath quicken before slowing

And my smile widened 

in response to his.

As I sipped the coffee

I shed the self importance

that had tied me in knots

and shrugged off the fear

of not measuring up

Old stuff

that never served me well anyway

And began to see the morning

through the eyes of the barista

who made wonderful coffee

and called me sweetheart.

Liz Crumlish 2025

Resist now

 

Luke 12:49-52

“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptised, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three;

It’s a long way from ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ 

Jesus doesn’t work in binaries - Remember?

In Jesus’ way, there is room

Room for diversity

Room for contradiction

Room for peacemakers

And room for those who stand against evil

Room for those who defend the weak

And room for those who refuse to settle for peace at any cost

Look at the signs

Refuse to settle for less

Refuse to stay quiet

Resist those, even those whom we love

who refuse to see

the divine spark that is buried

in each of God’s creations

The divine spark that kindles the fire of anger

when some are discarded

or used as collateral 

in political power games

Look at the signs writ large on the world stage

Amplified in local communities

And RESIST

Resist the myriad ways 

that diminish the image of the Divine

placed in every being

in the moment of Creation

Kindle the flame

Release the energy

Speak up 

Practice justice 

Protect the weak

Call out evil

And know Christ who walked this way

gives us courage now.

Liz Crumlish 2025

Deliciousness

 

Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.              John 20:18

I know the deliciousness

of a treasure held within

I was on a silent retreat

when news of the expected arrival

of our first grandchild was shared

Remaining in silence

treasuring that gift

of joy

of wonder

of anticipation

was a gift that amplified the delight

and somehow deepened the treasure

And I thought of Mary Magdalene

alone with the news of Jesus resurrection

How long did she allow

that intimate joy

to froth and fizz inside her

How long did she contain that treasure

as a delectable secret

with which she had been entrusted

How long did she bask in the knowledge

that was hers alone

I hope she revelled in her splendid isolation

as the one to whom Jesus chose to reveal

the truth of resurrection

I hope she took a moment - or more

to luxuriate in the exquisite revelation

before she fulfilled her commission

to go and proclaim the resurrection

to the world.

Liz Crumlish, Feast of Mary Magdalene 2025

Women with broad shoulders

 

The Nunnery, Iona

Giving thanks today...

for all those women who paved a way

and on whose shoulders I have stood...

For Sarah and her laughter,

 Hagar who named God,

Rebekah the trickster

and Leah, the unloved

Athaliah, a queen with sass

and Jehosheba, the righteous one

Miriam, awesome sister

and Abigail, a prophet

Gomer, lover of men

and Bathsheba, creator of kings

Shiphrah and Puah, subversive midwives

Esther, the beautiful one

and Ruth, the faithful one

Naomi, the depressed

and Anna, the fulfilled

Dorcas and Martha, home makers and creators

Mary the willing

and Elizabeth, the wise

Julian, the passionate

and Hilda, the founder

Teneu, who birthed a saint,

Photini, who is one

Those of the past and those of the present

Wise women

Witches, hags and crones

Birthing communities

Birthing stories.

Birthing faith, hope and love

And blazing a trail for women

throughout the ages

throughout the world.

Liz Crumlish

author of Miriam's Sisters, Deborah's Daughters

Canterbury Press March 2025