Sometimes we find it is a challenge to sit still and stay focused on prayer.  In the silence we find our mind wondering and our body complaining.  We want to pray but the right words seem to escape us.  Sybil Macbeth, the author of Praying in Colour, suggests that it can be helpful to use visual and concrete ways of praying.  Through doodling or drawing prayer becomes a visual and kinesthetic discipline engaging our bodies and our minds.
 
This lent I have used Sybil Macbeth’s Lenten Calendar alongside my daily bible readings.  Her helpful guidance is to read the meditation for the day and select a word that jumps out at you. Write the word in the space. Meditate on it as you draw and colour around it. Let it enter your heart and mind. Ask God what you need to hear from the word. Think of each mark of the pen or stroke of a coloured marker/pencil as a small non-verbal prayer. The goal of the doodling and drawing is not to make a beautiful work of art (though it often does), but to create a visual prayer. Drawing/doodling invites the body into the prayer, gives the eyes and hand something to do, and helps to focus attention on the word.
 
I have also used this approach with some simple slow-stitching.  Using the rhythm of hand stitching to enable the quiet rhythm of prayer as I reflected on this terms theme of TRUST.
 
The accumulation of words on the paper or stitches on the fabric creates an emerging tapestry of your spiritual journey. This is not art that will be judged as good or bad by others, it is a creative connection with God, and whatever you create it is always good enough for him. ​

Every year I try and make an effort to mark Lent in some way but to be honest, good intentions don't always result in any meaningful end. This year I have set myself the challenge of reading Brian Drapers daily Lent thought. Rather than regurgitating his words, I invite you to take a few moments and ask God to speak to you through this image. Or even better, choose a clear night and take a walk into the back garden or outside space and look up through the bare branches of a nearby tree. What do you see? What might God be saying to you as you stand and ponder?

If you WOULD like to see what thoughts Brian offered and why I was inspired to go out and look at the night sky through the branches of a leafless tree (although I didn't check the weather forecast and the night I chose was overcast and cloudy, but God spoke to me through that too!) then why not take a look at his website

https://www.briandraper.org/lent-2021

Gather to read and enjoy a conversation together about Graham Tomlin's book 'Why being yourself is a bad idea'.
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To join us on Tuesdays at 2pm via zoom please email tim@stswithinswalcot.org.uk .

About the Book
Why Being Yourself is a Bad Idea is a book for those seeking to make sense of life - and not afraid to go against the grain.​