… watching for the brushstrokes of God
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?
May the blessing of sleep bring refreshment and release
And the Angel of the moon call the rivers of dream
To soften the hardened earth of the outside life,
Disentangle from the trapped nets the hurts and sorrow,
And awaken the young soul for the new tomorrow.~ John O’Donohue ~
“God is present in the details of the everyday but is also visible when we pull back and take a wider gaze upon our lives and pay attention to the patterns and ways things have been woven together.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, With eyes of heart
What weavings do you discover?
Clouds and fog,
drifting, settling
blanket like over the landscape,
wrapping the world
into a cocoon of God’s presence
We slow down and take one step at a time
as the path slowly reveals itself to us.
How does fog settle and unsettle you?
I am from a culture with rhythms
biking, walking, resting
vacations at the beach or the mountains with a lake
lost in my room with a book
traveling the world
What rhythms have shaped you?
“I am willing to be uncomfortable”, I said in a gathering of women faith leaders in the fall of 2017 to which someone replied, “Mmh, I have never been comfortable”. This moment opened my eyes to privilege and racism and has shaped much of my work since then. I never once imagined it would lead to starting a blog.
From the beginning, God’s people have been called to journey into the uncomfortable, the unknown, the unexpected, the beauty and brokenness of the borderlands…. and called to trust the voice that says “You are my beloved child, with you I am well pleased.”
How are you called to journey and trust?
With the Eyes of the Heart 