Sacred Moment Monday

I just had lunch with a friend. I've missed her. I've missed the ebb and flow of our talks, the sacred rhythm of the way we are with one another. Our dialogue is f u l l. Full of questions, life, God's involvement, God's silence, tensions of faith and tensions of church life.

I leave feeling more alive then when I came.  A little bit more filled with the   l i f e of God and a little more present to who I am, who He is in me, and the j o y of who my friend is becoming.

I think about what Jesus said in John 10 about the fullness of life he wants to bring.  How the sheep will know him and how well he knows his sheep.  I think about how creative He is--how insightful, knowing, other, complete, and full he is in the holy cluster of Trinity.

Oh to nestle in!

As I sit across from my friend, all new and fresh in Jesus faith, I think of the beauty before me. A woman colored by life just giving way to seeing the Artist's hand.  A beautiful mess, as we all are but not as we will stay.

I think about the lines he draws as he sketches out her new life and brings light where there has been darkness.

But I also see the necessary shadows and firm lines that must be built in. How brilliant the light strokes yet so subtle and necessary for the bigger picture.

I think about the depth and texture he adds and how ugly and blurred it may appear at first when seen.

Ah, but to to quietly trust in the work, eventually able to step away to see the beauty, the brilliance, the intricate movements of the brush throughout the canvas forming l i f e, b e a u t y, h o p e.

And it's all building. Moment by moment, day by day.  We, all too close to see.

But it is...He is....and so I T is.

I lean back in my chair, a spectator looking on the art being formed before my eyes. I see because I know the Artist and I know every so often I've had my moments of stepping back and beginning to see, the strong pigments, subtle textures, beautiful light and I trust it. Trust it in the deepest, holiest place within.

I am being prepared, you are being prepared, we are being prepared. Beauty is being formed from ashes. The canvas is being reworked with new mediums and textures to display His splendor and tell the world of His magnificence. His intricate, holy, breathtaking beauty and love.

We his art show. The gallery of faces telling His story to the world!