… watching for the brushstrokes of God
The rhino is a strong, horned, thick skinned and peaceful land-dweller that is powerfully fast and dangerous when disturbed. The more we know the terrain we thrive in, and what we are made out of, the easier it is to know where to dwell, how to contribute and what edges to push.
What do you look like?
Evelyn Woodward speaks of the poet’s voice (or artist I would add) as “bringing the light of what is best in our history to bear on our struggles in the present and pointing to the unknown future with hope.”
What light from history do you bring to the hope going forward?
“Thus the ability to step back is not inaction but an invitation into a different kind of action — a different way of seeing and thus engaging the world around us. Stepping back, therefore, is not a retreat from the world of brokenness but an invitation to receive God’s imagination for the world.” ~ Emmanuel Katongole, Reconciling all things
How do you into a new vision?
As Shakespeare put it in a Midsummer’s Night Dream, “imagination bodies forth the form of things unknown”.
How do you explore the not yet?
“The asking of new questions often leads us to the perilous, growing edge of our minds. That’s because all new and original thought begins with a question, which leads to an exploration.” ~ Dawna Markova, I will not die an unlived life
What’s your question?
“The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before … What is possible is to not see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you. And you begin to grasp what it was you missed, like Moses in the cleft of the rock, watching God’s [back] fade in the distance. So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold. Wonder. There will be time enough for running. For rushing. For worrying. For pushing. For now, stay. Wait. Something is on the horizon.” Jan L. Richardson, Night Vision
With the Eyes of the Heart 