Tomorrow is “Stir - up Sunday “

Whenever I begin preparing food for Christmas I tend to think of “stir - up’ Sunday, because when I was a child we always looked forward to making the Christmas cake

on that day... as it got colder during November, we were told to look out for the prayer on the Sunday when the priest prayed “Stir up, O Lord, we beseech thee, the hearts of thy faithful people...” So you can just imagine 3 small children excitedly clamouring for our mother’s attention after the service...”Mum, mum, did you hear it, mum ?  Its stir up Sunday today...Can we make the cake when we get home ?.... :)  

This Banksy mural of the girl with her balloons ... the wish that Palestinians could fly over the walls that are destroying their lives... somehow reminds me of Stir up Sunday... the wish that things could be stirred up and be changed...& yet the sad reality of the young woman walking along beside the wall...

Many years later I painted this depiction below...a large canvas...as a prayer- painting... a visual prayer for many situations around the world where people are suffering pain and injustice... that these might be changed...  I Wonder... what would you have included in this visual prayer ? ... is it possible for you to use these 2 visuals as your prayer as we prepare for Christmas... ?    “Stir up, O Lord, the hearts of your faithful people...”