WOW – Gathering – vonda drees art

“If time is a circle, as the Indigenous worldview presumes, the knowledge we need is already within the circle; we just have to remember it to find it again and let it teach us.” -Robin Wall Kimmerer, from her essay, Ancient Green

“There is power in proximity. When you get proximate to people who are suffering, you can wrap your arms around them, and you will be empowered with the belief that you can change the world. This will allow you to change the world.” – Bryan Stevenson, from his talk, The Power of Proximity

Welcome to Day 1 of the Wonders of Worship (WOW) series. Today we ponder the Gathering.

Within the circle,

there’s proximity power.

Affirmed, we are born.

Ways to Engage:

Practice Visio Divina (receive, reflect, respond, rest) with the painting.
Consider why a nest with eggs was chosen to represent the Gathering. Ponder another way to illustrate it. You are welcome to share your creative thoughts and ideas in the comments.
Download the B&W image. Color it on your own or with a friend. Color in silence or while listening to one of the talks linked above. Let it inspire further contemplation/conversation.
You do you. Trust your intuition and engage in the way your heart desires.

To download the black and white image for personal use: on a computer, click and drag the image to your desktop; on a phone, press on the picture until it gives you the option to save it to your photos. The image is formatted to fit on an 8.5″x11″ piece of paper, but feel free to print it whatever size you’d like.

Background: I created a series of forty 5″x7″ watercolor paintings inspired by the elements of worship. It was work commissioned by a project with Nourishing Vocation with Children at St. Olaf College, a program funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative.

As the paintings are shared, you may notice a pattern: