“[T]here’s a beautiful invitation in the circle of life to see how we’re all joined together…” —bell hooks
“From the Trinity to Jesus, the energetic movement of receiving and giving Love begins. Then, from Jesus to many—Francis and Clare, Bonaventure and Scotus, Thérèse of Lisieux, Teilhard de Chardin, Mother Teresa, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Pope Francis, and now we ourselves—we are all part of this one great parade, ‘partners in God’s triumphal procession.'” -Richard Rohr
Welcome to Day 4 of the Wonders of Worship (WOW) series. Today we ponder the Procession.
Pilgrims of Spacetime
Converging in this moment —
this one great parade
Ways to Engage:
- Practice Visio Divina (receive, reflect, respond, rest) with the painting.
- I remember my sister-in-law sharing years ago that, for her, orange was the color of joy. That’s why I chose orioles for the Procession. Plus, they are early morning songbirds. What color feels like joy to you? What early morning songbirds usher in your day?
- Download the B&W image. Color it on your own or with a friend. Color in silence or while listening to music that brings you joy, maybe like this little guy. 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:
- Music = Songbird
- Prayer = Seed and/or Fruit
- Word = Leaf
- Order of Service = Element of Nature
- Season = Insect with a Flower
One final creative invitation for this project remains for me: to paint a Tree of Life holding all forty elements. I plan to share its progress here.
For this series, I am grateful to have used handmade paper from White Dragon Paper and watercolor paints from Natural Earth Paint.
vonda drees art 