… watching for the brushstrokes of God
There are things
We get through
That we grieve
Only later—
When some new loss
Pulls them to the surface
Of the deep well
In which they’ve
Been submerged.
And so today
Our grief for
The world as we’ve
Known it,
For plans laid down,
For possibilities
Now gone forever,
Is laced with
Golden threads
Of loss we had forgotten,
As if distant waves
Are lapping
On an unseen shore
In the dark of night. Judy Brown
What golden threads of loss are rising to the surface for you?
Everything in me
is quiet like
a rug spread
out in the sun to dry. – Barbara Gibson
What does quiet look like within you?
“We need to find God, and God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” Teresa of Calcutta
What touches your soul?
Let there be
an opening
into the quiet
that lies beneath
the chaos,
where you find the peace
you did not think
possible
and see what shimmers
within the storm.” Jan Richardson, The Cure For Sorrow
What do you discover beneath the chaos?
I came across a reference to the early Velazquez palette named after the Spanish painter who used it frequently. For the primary colors of yellow, red and blue he apparently used Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber and black (or Payne’s Grey here).
What kind of playfulness does this call for? How deep do you have to dig within?
“…going down into the deep pain of another is like jumping into a bottomless abyss – not knowing if or where one will land. To grasp another’s pain means letting go of our own safety limb and falling down to an unknown place. In this place we maybe won’t have the answers that will help alleviate the pain or explain it. We have to be willing to admit, then and there, down in the pit, that we too are helpless and weak and powerless. And who wants to do that, or be there?” Henri Nouwen
How are you called to presence with?
With the Eyes of the Heart 