coming together

It intrigues me how some ideas take a wee while to come together - and sometimes they arrive in unexpected ways.

A while back I stumbled across the idea of Praying in Color and re-kindled my interest in calligraphy.

Through reading Sybil MacBeth's book, I re-discovered the practice of lectio divina.

Speaking to a friend about calligraphy, I was introduced to Timothy Botts 'Doorposts' (note to self - must remember to return that book!) - a way of combining lectio divina and calligraphy.

More recently That Hideous Man introduced me to Wordle (see example above), which I've been playing with as an alternative to my own calligraphic efforts.

Then tonight I discovered the Jing Project which let's you capture Wordle images in a crisp, clear format.

All in all, a variety of ways to inspire and help my personal spiritual life, and through Nurture Group (at least), hopefully give others something to ponder on.

Pretty cool!

Who do you say...? #3

Last entry on this stuff.

The response to Jesus' question "involves a fundamental reorientation of the principle of life" (Wessel).

For me the question, begs another question - 'What does my life say about who Jesus is?'

'Follow me' sounds quite easy; 'take up your cross' is chilling!

At Spring Harvest in 1999, Phillip Hacking said "Sometimes we need to be shaken from our complacency - Jesus words were sometimes harsh, shocking."

Heschel talks about God as "not only a power to which we are accountable, but also a pattern for our lives." Follow me, indeed!

Being consistent in following our calling - whatever it may be - requires us to continually answer Jesus' question, "Who do you say I am?"

Well, the reflections of the past few days have shaken me from my complacency. I've found two prayers that have helped me to shape my thoughts and deal with the shaken-ness. I'll keep one for tomorrow night, but the one below came from a wee prayer card that I picked up in Dunkled Cathedral (and currently keep in my journal).

Lord let me walk with you and know your peace.

May my life speak of you,

and my whole being wait on you,

to hear your Word and do your will.

my Lord and my God.

Who do you say...? #2

The answer to Jesus' question, "Who do you say I am?" is in one sense relatively straightforward. As a Christian, I've made my decision to follow Jesus. So that's that then. Well... maybe not.

We are frequently blind to what is before us. At other times we see partially and don't probe deeper. Or we too readily accept common wisdom.

Jesus wisdom was uncommon. It required -and requires - a shift in thinking. It needs reflective learning and prayer to begin to fathom the depths.

The problem is that it's not just a one-off question. It's a daily question of commitment and priority. Having discovered Christ, we need to explore fully what it means and then apply it fully to our lives. It's a commitment to exploring a Christ-centred life.

The question is really - what is of ultimate importance to us?

God is of no importance

unless He is of supreme importance.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Who do you say ...?

Recently I've been reflecting on Jesus question to his disciples (see Mark 8:29)

But what about you? ... Who do you same I am?

It's clearly a defining question - then and now. It's been good to reflect on it and to not answer too quickly. The implications of the answer will be far-reaching, so I've allowed the question to linger. Over the next few days I'll maybe share some thoughts and some images.

Inspired - first tentative steps

I started to write an entry last week and interrupted myself... several days later I've remembered what I was going to write about.

A friend lent me a book a while back (which I will return soon), which really inspired me. It was called Doorposts by Timothy Botts. The basic idea is that he has taken passages of scripture and presented them as calligraphy. Now my talents are significantly less impressive, but it inspired me and I've made some tentative steps of my own (see below). It kind of links to my thoughts on Praying in Color and also Richard Rohr's idea of having a current mantra. Anyway I'm finding it quite useful and therapeutic and challenging and inspiring. I may show some of my further attempts in due course.

It's also prompted some thoughts about motivation, which I'll come back to later.