Week Four, Day Four Joy

I invite you into the prayer practice of Visio Divina. 

Breathe in to the count of three...exhale to the count of six or seven.

Breathe in the One who is our rock and refuge...exhale the moments when the sand is shifting constantly beneath your feet with every wave crashing down.

Breathe in love that wraps around you...breathe out places and spaces that cause you to feel backed into a corner.

Breathe in a joy that is being cultivated and created here and now...breathe out the heavy rocks we try to carry all alone.

Look at the image and let your eyes stay with the very first thing that you see. Keep your attention on that one part of the image that first catches your eye. Try to keep your eyes from wandering to other parts of the picture.

Next, try to count the rocks and study each one as showing God’s fingerprints.  What colors capture your imagination? What stories start to stir within you from this one photo?  Write down some of the thousand words that one picture can bring forth within you.  Breathe deeply and let yourself gaze at that part of the image for a minute or so.

Consider the following questions:

What emotions does this image evoke in you?

What does the image stir up in you, bring forth in you?

Does this image lead you into an attitude of prayer? If so, let these prayers take form in you. Write them down if you desire.

Reflection

Of the nearly one thousand pictures I took last summer, this is my favorite.  A few weeks ago, I told you about my love of rocks, which this photo has many.  This picture was taken on the last day of the trip when I began to feel my creativity growing. I laid down on the cold ground to focus on the one beautiful rock at the center with its white stripes and the mountains off in the distance.  For me, this photo brings together my love of creation, being close to rocks that have been around for centuries, and the creativity of photography.  On one level sharing this with you on Christmas Day seems appropriate, a gift from deep in my heart.

I could have waited until the last day to share this with you.  But when something brings you joy; it longs to be shared with others.  In fact, some say for joy to be joy it must be expressed.  Joy needs to be given away generously, and in giving away joy, it will awaken joy in someone else.  Joy is generative in that way and will continually create.

What brings you the deepest joy?

Luke says that when Mary heard the tale of angels singing to shepherds, she pondered all these things in her heart.  I picture her pondering the eternity that was dancing in the baby boy she had just named, Jesus.  I wonder if what she felt in that holy moment was beyond words, just as it is beyond words for me to really explain why I love the above photo so much.  When I paint the scene of Mary pondering Jesus in my mind, she is always smiling.  This scene cultivates joy.  Remember, in the both/and truths of life, that in that moment of Mary’s gazing at her new born child, the threat of Rome was still very real.  The fear of having a child out-of-wedlock loomed large.  Life wasn't all chocolate rivers and pony rides.  Remember, the shepherds who showed up with strange stories were not just on the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder, many scholars suggest shepherds were not allowed anywhere near the ladder.  The whole strange story from a stable, to two unwed parents, to God entering our world in the form of a vulnerable infant, with only a tiny star shining above announcing, to shepherds being entrusted as the public relations team, this odd story is meant to cultivate joy with every twist and turn.

So, what strange moments bring you joy?

And you could ask that question for a thousand days and each day come up with another response. 

My deepest belief is that where our deepest joy is discovered, there the traces of God's grace will begin to guide us, God's love will lead us, and joy will be cultivated within us for the sake of the world.

May that be true for you and for me this day, this week, and throughout the coming year.

Blessings ~~