Week Four, Day Six 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 cultivates and surprises us with joy...exhale the need to explain rationally and reasonable everything in life.

Breathe in hope...and then exhale.

Breathe in peace...and then exhale.

Breathe in love...and then exhale.

Breathe in joy...and then exhale.

Breathe and be.

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, make a list of what captures your eye, the parts of the photo singing to your soul, and sit for a few moments with the question, why?  Ask yourself, what is glowing and glistening with joy in your life - both around you and within you?  Breathe deeply.

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

Emerald Lake in Alaska glistens and glows green.  It is alive with color even on a cloudy day.  It is beautiful beyond words.

Of course, I could say in my best scientific and scholarly voice that everyone knows the green color is simply, "Created by sunlight reflecting off a white layer of “marl” on the lakebed. Marl is a white calcium carbonate (CaCO3) clay that forms in the water and then settles, often unevenly, onto the lake bottom. It forms when enough carbonate (CO3), from dissolving limestone), reacts with calcium (Ca) in the water"*

I mean, duh.

But that doesn't tell me why this photo brings a smile to my face.

That doesn't tell me why I stood there in stunned silence trying to soak it all in.

That doesn't tell me why a poem about glistening green waters singing back to God who sang creation into being, starts to be written as I prayerful ponder, gaze not glance, at this sight.

Focusing and framing is about beholding and being held by what we see.  It is about paying attention not only to what we are seeing around us but also to what is going on within us.

The questions about emotions and what you are seeing that started each day of this devotional were not offered to fill space.  They were crafted to help you start to awaken and be aware of what is around you and within you.  I pray you have kept track over these weeks of what you have seen with your eyes, heard within your souls, and the stories from your life that were evoked and re-discovered.  In so many ways what is most important to me in sharing this devotional wasn't whether you liked my photos, but that the images might stir something within you.  I deeply pray that through images and words and sharing this time together, there were many traces of God’s grace.

The point every day was and is your ideas, insights, and questions.

The point is that when we listen to our lives, we open ourselves to the traces of God's grace, feel led by love, and cultivate joy so we might spread and share hope.  Traces of the sacred stirring, I pray, will continue to sparkle and shine like an emerald for you and for the sake of our world.

Blessings ~~

* Taken from Wikipedia, of course.