ITEMS of INTEREST

with contributions from Christie Storm, Sarah Hofius, Manish Pachouly, Charles Honey

"The night Susan Izard's father died, he was wrapped in a prayer shawl knitted by her mother. Blanketed with the soft yarn, he was surrounded by a multitude of prayers, she says. 'My mother spread it across my dad, and it was a beautiful moment of having this man covered in that love, knowing that his life was coming to an end.'

"Izard is ... pastor of spiritual life at First Church of Christ, Congregational, in West Hartford, Conn. She is now active in promoting the ministry of prayer shawls, a growing trend that is grounded in providing a tangible manifestation of prayer to those in need of comfort, support, and compassion.

"As each shawl is made, the knitter prays, sometimes with each dip of the needle, in the hopes that the recipient, when donning the shawl, will be wrapped in the warmth and comfort of prayer. 'It's a really tender ministry of caring for those who need to be wrapped in God's love,' Izard says of the effort. 'It's very tender, in a broken world, to be able to wrap someone in this world so tangibly in prayer.' ...

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