Tag Archives: art

Helped up

Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Christ Healing Peter’s Mother-in-Law
pen and wash, circa 1650-1660

Jesus is always at home to those who need healing. He enters our personal space to touch us, make us whole, and help us get back on our feet so that we may continue to use our gifts and talents to serve others.

May I be willing to show up at the Lord’s door to ask for his grace and guidance. May I invite him to enter my mind, heart, and soul.

On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John… When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. Mark 1:29, 32-33

Kindness will not be forgotten

Rembrandt (1606-1669)
The Prophetess Anna in the Temple, 1646 or 1650

May I welcome the new year in holy stillness, with the hope and intention each day to be God’s messenger of love, peace, and kindness.

Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. Colossians 3:12-13a

 

Wisdom’s Way

I perceive the resplendence of wisdom when I stay aware of and act on opportunities to love my neighbor, forgive those who have hurt me, take responsibility for my words and actions, give food to the hungry, visit the sick and lonely, seek peaceful resolutions to conflict.

I find wisdom in my own loneliness, in my realization of my need for God’s guidance, comfort, and boundless love as I continue to make mistakes on the Way to perfection.

Resplendent and unfading is wisdom,
and she is readily perceived by those who love her,
and found by those who seek her. Wisdom 6:12

Nothing to prove

Sieger Köder (1925-2015)
Jesus Washing Peter’s Feet
“The greatest among you must be your servant.” Matthew 23:11

When I am grounded in love and compassion, kindness and patience, hope and humility, I have no need to perform for others to see. I can participate fully in life just as I am—frail, tired, encouraging, interested, sorrowing, accepting.

I have nothing to prove. I am a precious child of God.

[Jesus said,] “All their works are performed to be seen.” Matthew 23:5a

Pay it forward

James Tissot (1836-1902)
Le denier de César
opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, between 1886 and 1894
Brooklyn Museum

Love. Compassion. Kindness. Mercy. Forgiveness. Welcome. Comfort. Peace.

These belong to God. May I repay them to God by extending them to everyone I encounter.

[Jesus said to them,] “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Matthew 22: 21

Dressed up

ESUS MAFA. The poor invited to the feast, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. [retrieved October 15, 2017].

Here I am at the celebration of God’s kingdom among us. Love has triumphed over death. God’s Word leads us on the way to everlasting  life.

Today I will ask God’s Holy Spirit to help me find the right garment for this celebration. Kindness. Compassion. Mercy. Generosity. Peace. Nonviolence. Welcome. Joy.

[Jesus said,] “The king said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?'”  Matthew 22:12a

Nonviolence

James Tissot (1836-1902)
Le fils de la vigne
opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, between 1886 and 1894
Brooklyn Museum

Negativity. Pessimism. Put-downs. Sarcasm. Hostility. These are forms of violence that tackle me daily in the news, on the Internet, at the workplace, and sometimes from my own attitudes and behaviors.

My defense against the darkness of violence is to put my thoughts on God’s boundless love and wisdom, and to practice bringing the light of gratitude, kindness, forgiveness, and compassion to every circumstance in which I find myself.

Thank you, Lord, for being with me right now, in this moment. Help me to walk in the light of your love. Show me how to be a nonviolent presence in our troubled world.

Finally, sisters and brothers,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things. Phillipians 4:8

Worthy

Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
11th c.
Byzantine gospel. Paris, National Library

God surrounds, fills, and blesses each human person with the same abundant love, compassion, and comfort. We don’t have to prove our worth to God. Whenever we show up for God, God is already there with a warm welcome.

Today I will make God’s boundless, unbiased love apparent by treating everyone I encounter with respect and kindness.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

 

As often as infinity

Josefina de Vasconcellos (1904-2005)
Reconciliation

If I want to follow Jesus, then I must be compassion. I must be forgiveness. I must be love.

And when I fail, I must find the heart and discipline to start again. It’s not a competition. There is no endpoint. It is the Way.

Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins? Sirach 28:2-4

 

Two of us

Two People Praying
Japanese, 19th c.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Here we are, you and I, gathered together in the name of Jesus. Can we agree on what to pray for?

I’d like to pray for an understanding heart. Choosing love first. Forgiving more quickly. Transforming the energy of fear and anger into a force for compassion and reconciliation. Being more generous to those in need. Finding a way to use my gifts and talents to help out in the world. Seeking God’s will in all that I do.

How about you?

[Jesus said to his disciples,] ” Again, amen, I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:19-20