Morning Prayer 32/100. Spiritual sketching
Spiritual sketch
Always a doodler and lately drawn to serious drawing, I’ve loved discovering spiritual sketching.
Scribbling and doodling — just making marks on the page — have always had appeal. Yet, I recently noticed the several sketch pads and colored pencils and drawing pens I’ve collected but never put to use. So I signed up for an online Pen and Ink Drawing Class.
Exciting and threatening at the same time. All the old (and not so old) how-do-I-do-this-right? obstacles appeared. Significant hesitation before putting pen to paper and making a mark I could not take back. Some frustration, for sure.
Last week while walking Alex I found a scattering of dried, brittle, beautiful magnolia tree leaves in a neighbor’s front yard. I gathered several and brought them home. For a couple of days I looked at them, encouraging myself to sketch one.
And when I did I was suddenly allowed to let go of fear. I wasn’t afraid the lines would not flow. I wasn’t afraid the drawing would not look like the leaf. I wasn’t afraid anyone–even me–would laugh at my drawing.
At first I thought of the experience, calmly drawing the leaf, as almost spiritual. Peaceful. Relaxing. Joyful. Satisfying.
Then I realized it was not almost spiritual. It was spiritual, as spiritual as I allowed myself to know. My hand moved the pen and Spirit moved my hand. My eye saw the leaf’s curves and ripples and Spirit fueled my eye. The more smoothly, comfortably, happily I drew the leaf, the more totally I realized oneness with Spirit, with the leaf, with my pen, with the sketch pad, with everyone who might ever see my drawing.
As I put down the pen, this came to mind: I am not a human being having a spiritual experience; I am a spiritual being
Spiritual sketch
having a human experience.
Living, loving God,
you created us with both broad strokes and
intricate details
and then you blessed us with the freedom
to fill in the paintings of ourselves,
for ourselves.
Your gift that we may define our human be-ing
is the fearless freedom we may know.
Our earthly identity allows us to express
the Spirit that fills us, that is us,
that we are.
For the joy of drawing our Selves
and for loving the creativity we are,
we say: Thank you, God.
Amen.
Love and blessings,
9/01/2015
In: Beauty, Change, Colors, Creativity, Gratitude, Happiness, Joy, Life, Prayer, Spirituality · Tagged with: Divine Spirit, Energy, Joy, Love, Oneness, Peace, praying, spiritual simplicity
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