FAITH IN THE COMMUNITY: This quilt can help to heal memories
By Canon Harriet Neale-Stevens, Canon Chancellor, Portsmouth Cathedral
THIS week in Portsmouth Cathedral, we are honoured to be hosting an exhibition of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Suicide Memorial Quilt.
The quilt is made up of three panels of quilt squares, each one stitched by a someone who has been bereaved by suicide. There are also some squares that have been created by organisations who support families affected by suicide and those who work directly with people who are at risk of suicide.
The quilt is a beautiful and dazzling array of creative work: embroidery, print, fabric collage; and each square displays the name of a person who has died.
The Speak their Name movement started in Manchester during lockdown and has since spread to other parts of the country, where quilts are being made and displayed in memory of lives lost, but also as a way to heal memories, to build communities of people who can support and understand one another, and to raise awareness of suicide prevention.
Some of the quilt squares have been made in memory of people whose lives have been lost very recently. Others however, commemorate people whose names and stories have been little spoken of since their death.
The quilt project has given their families and friends a voice, and a creative means of remembering and cherishing their life, allowing their name to be spoken again, with affection and pride.
The Bible reminds us that God calls each of us by name, and that we are loved and cherished by God, not just in this life, but into eternity.
We are reminded in the pages of the scriptures that it was God who knitted us together in our mother’s womb, and that God knows the very number of hairs on our heads. Our value is infinite, and nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God.
Despite the sadness and pain that lies behind the stories and memories captured in the quilt, its beauty and power have given many viewers an extraordinary sense of hope and joy. The deep love and affection that has been stitched into each square of the quilt seems to radiate outwards, reminding us that love is the greatest gift, one that can never be lost.
The quilt will be on display until Wednesday, October 8, in Portsmouth Cathedral, Old Portsmouth.
PORTSMOUTH CATHEDRAL, High Street, Old Portsmouth, PO1 2HA