Wednesday 27 July 2016

Praying through Creative Art

Weve had two good Sunday afternoons so far 
& one more to go in August...Sunday 21st.

Lost amidst the chaos of weeding & clearing our front garden, someone dropped by to chat...
 & said the art & prayer sounded interesting....but....well, could someone like me join in?
...I mean what do you actually do ?

Well, a few brave souls decided to come & dip their toe into the water, so to speak...

& the first afternoon we began by looking at Jesus Calming the Storm: Mark 5 v 35-41 



Annie Valotten : Line drawings for the Good News Bible : Jesus stills the storm





Then, taking the storm as symbolic of chaotic events in our lives, or in the news,
Tsunami : etched & sandblasted antique glass panel
we chose pastel colours to doodle...shapes & colours to express our/angry /fearful / chaotic feelings
then took time in silence to pray that Christ might still this storm within us,....

finally drawing a symbolic shape to symbolise His presence within & among us,
whether expressed as calm on a wide sea...

or a variety of other colours & shapes...

Anyone can join in...at any level... its simply a way of going more deeply into what you really wish to bring before God in prayer... & maybe, a way of getting away from the wordy "shopping list"!

On our second afternoon we had a go at intercessory prayer, without using words, but instead using coloured pastels & drawing shapes to represent the people / events we wished to bring before God in prayer.

Interested?  
then do let me know...and we might plan some more small groups in Wivenhoe...
or a Quiet Day somewhere, focusing on silent prayer through creative art.

 ( click on page "Prayer painting/Quiet Day" above for more details )




Sunday 17 July 2016

Multiculturalism

Sicily ?
 what did  I know about this island ?

... only that it looked as though it was being being nudged by Italy's big toe into the middle of the Mediterranean... and here we were, a few days after the referendum, feeling as though our own island was spinning off course...split almost down the middle, amid the chaos of no follow up plan & spiteful incidents against "foreigners" who had been living & working here for years...  & I must admit that being in central London, where, like Scotland, the majority voted Remain, I felt the need to counteract my grey hair with a T-shirt saying "Don't blame me: I'm A-Typical " !

Moving on to the British Museum...I really had no idea just how fascinating this exhibition was to be

amid the most delicate intricate carvings we discovered the earliest document on paper: a letter written in both Greek & Arabic... a Psalter in three languages : Greek, Latin & Arabic



and this fascinating tombstone: with Arabic written down using Hebrew script, followed by Latin,  Greek and then Arabic.

Do go and see for yourself... 
& read this review beforehand...