Something to think and pray about this week

What does the desert signify in the story of the people of Israel, of John the Baptist, and then Jesus himself? It was not a destination, but a place for travelers going somewhere, journeying to a new life. Jesus had gone into the desert an unknown young carpenter from Nazareth, with thirty years of hidden life behind him. After the desert he returned to Galilee with power of the Spirit in him, and started to preach. Quickly he became a public figure, but he loved to withdraw to desert or mountain to recharge his energies by prayer. He moved forward like any of us, with no sure knowledge of what was to happen him. His life was shaped by the spirit driving him forward, but shaped also by the accidents of his life, the enthusiasm of some of his listeners and the resistance of others. He had a sense of where God was calling him (‘I am sent to cast fire on the earth.' Luke 12:49) and of the joy he felt in this vocation (‘My meat is to do the will of him who sent me.' John 4:34) After the quiet life of Nazareth, Jesus' public life was tumultuous. If we are to do justice to his humanity, we must accept that he did not know what would happen next, only that this was where God wanted him to be.

Most of us could point to a similar second calling, though we might not think of it in that way. A second journey like this is not an easy option. It means casting adrift from the security you have enjoyed, not knowing where the road will take you. In all this journeying we are looking for light from the Lord, as John Henry Cardinal Newman expressed it,

Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home, lead thou me on!

-Sacred Space

works of reconciliation

Our work is the result of collaboration. Not just in the conceptual sense, but working on the same canvas at the same time. We began creating this way while working on the peace line in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The peace line is a wall that divides neighborhoods between protestant and catholic. Our time in Belfast was spent facilitating art workshops, working with folks from both sides of the divide to help build community. Along with the workshops, we created a commissioned piece of art for the Forthspring Inter Community Center, which bridges the thirty foot wall. We found creating in this way is much like reconciliation. It is a process of listening, respecting, being authentic with one another and trusting. There is also a shared balance of power at all times. One of us may be making a decision about what color paint stroke and where, but that has nothing to do with the "power". The power remains balanced.

We have created paintings that neither of us would have created alone. When we look at our results, we see our individual selves have not been lost. We see both our styles and ideas present but also something more. We talk a little during the process, but most of it is worked out in nonverbal communication with the other. One thing we have noticed is that we don't paint over or paint out something the other has put down without letting the idea (or stroke or color) live for a while and seeing how it fits into the whole. When we have learned all we can from the piece we are working on, together we move on to the next painting to begin a new dialogue.

Chuck + Peg