Santa Cruz Sunday #13

 

Taylor, this passage below was from my retreat yesterday:

The Prayers Beneath

Whenever my artist friends Peg and Church begin a new painting, they take a few quiet moments with the canvas. Before reaching for a paintbrush, they first pick up a pencil. They write a prayer onto the canvas. No one else will ever see the penciled words. With every stroke of the paintbrush, the prayer disappears. Yet the words infuse the work. Beneath the layers of paint, the prayer persists. Blessing and invocation, it calls to the viewer, both concealing and revealing its presence.

-Jan Richardson

 

I found this to be so profound to think about the things that we do and the rhythms we have set in place that set the backdrop for other parts of our lives. You setting a habit of reading for 5-10 minutes in the morning during your fall quarter is certainly one of those things. Whether it’s the book that Phil gave you or a Scripture passage, I hope that you will continue this intention for 2024 as you think about what you want to be on your canvas (both seen and unseen).

 

Here is the idea that Randy shared with me that might be useful to you…

 The other thing that has clicked with some kids is just a journal and a Bible and some suggested questions or suggestions like…


- read through a chapter until you find an insight that is meaningful to you in some way. Journal about your insight and pray about it.

Or

Read a chapter (NT). Write down…
- one question
- one insight
- one “so what?” (Application)
- short prayer

Again, it is usually best for any of these practices to take hold, it helps to do it with at least one other person or a group. It can even be a group chat. 

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