The Comfort of Our Quilts
- Jonathan David Cain
- Jan 3
- 2 min read
When I think of ‘comfort’, I tend to think of tactile things. I collect old and relatively new quilts. Nothing can evoke memory like a soft, old, worn quilt. Surely, quilts in our southern minds are comfort. Quilts are made of pieces and memories. Parts of someone’s life are shown in little scraps of fabric. Stitches made by hand and designs chosen for joy. I was asked to write this piece about comfort, referring to quilts. I’ve realized that life is much like a quilt - made of memories and irregular pieces that don’t always make sense until later.
2025 has been a challenging year for virtually everyone I know, myself included. This year, I have friends who have arrived from unexpected places. I’ve faced challenges, and friends have come to my aid. I suppose reflecting on 2025 is something of an exercise in gratitude –A seeking of comfort and understanding.
In the past year, I’ve become more involved with Community Meal – a program to feed the needy at Trinity Episcopal church. We make and hand out about 150-200 meals every Monday. It takes many hands all working together. So, like a quilt, perhaps I am a patch in this bigger picture. I hope I bring some comfort to someone whose face I don’t know and often never see. I know people who came to my aid weren’t always people I had known for a long time, but now they have become lifelong friends. So, I guess my biggest thought on the word ‘comfort’ today is this — we all have the ability to be a comfort to someone.
Go! Be a quilt to someone. Give them cover when they need it, warmth when they’re cold, & understanding when they can’t find it anywhere else. Be a smiling face on a dark day. Help as many as you can, however you can, and with whatever tools God places in your hands. We’re all just patches in a big quilt - some pieces more noticeable than others, some a little more worn than most, and all just trying to find their place in this big pattern called life. I hope 2026 finds us loving a little more, arguing a little less, and all of us stitched together a little tighter than we’ve been.
To paraphrase our sweet, tenacious priest, Callie Brewton — Life is brief. Be quick to do good, slow to anger, and may we all walk in love and peace.
Jonathan Cain, a native of Florence, Alabama, has been the Curator of the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art in Tuscumbia, AL, since January 2020. He functioned in that role previously for several years before leaving to pursue a career in education. He holds an undergraduate degree in graphic design from the University of North Alabama and graduate degrees from both the University of Mississippi (MFA – Sculpture) and the University of North Alabama (MA – Clinical Mental Health). He is an eclectic artist who likes to pursue many different media.
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