This week’s assignment in my spiritual direction class was to write a Collect. This is a form of short poetic prayer that helps you gather your thoughts and discern your intentions. Here are the components: Name who you are praying to – what title and moniker will you use to address God? God in what …
In our last Contemplative Arts Circle, we did a guided meditation and made art based on our word for 2022. It was wonderful to see how each person interpreted their word and made it into art. Here is Van’s: If you missed the pause and still want to participate, never fear! Need a word? You …
Well, I don’t know about you, but my 2022 is off to a rough start. More…a slow start. I was sick (but negative COVID test) and spent three straight days on the couch watching Harry Potter movies. (I didn’t say the year was off to a BAD start per se…) My word for the year …
Gratitude Trees: A Contemplative Arts Activity In this activity, you reflect on all the things you are grateful for in each aspect of your life. You then place these things on a your gratitude tree. You can use the included worksheet, or draw your own tree. Please enjoy this contemplative arts activity from our November …
Soul Portraits: A Contemplative Arts Activity This is not your standard portrait. We aren’t painting your face, or even your body. We are painting your inner self. In this activity, you will create an image of your soul – the deep inner part of yourself where you rest in the Divine and the Divine rests …
I don’t know about you, but the passage into autumn always creates a shift in me. My interests shift more toward home and family, I suddenly start craving soups and anything made of apple or pumpkin, and I deepen my interest in art. But I also slowly start turning inward. As the days shorten and …
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” (Mark 1:35) You know that time of day when the sun is just getting ready to rise, and the reds and oranges fill the sky, giving a golden cast onto everything around …
Mark 4:35-41, Jesus Stills a Storm On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat …
Today is my wedding anniversary. My husband and I got married 18 years ago, on our kid’s first birthday. Which also means my kid is turning 19 today. Wow. So family, and the idea of family, is on my mind right now. There’s this story about Jesus and family that I always thought was kinda …
Today is Trinity Sunday; the day in the Western Christian calendar where we celebrate the three “persons” of God. Traditionally these are referred to as Father, Son, and Spirit (but I’d love to play around sometime with non-traditional representations of the Trinity). I have mentioned before the not-so-tongue-in-cheek descriptions of Trinity as “two White dudes …