Monday, December 16, 2019

Back to Spiritual Journaling/Sketching on Sunday

I was startled this week to realize that the last time I sketched/journaled on Sunday was All Saints Day, WAY back in November.

Of course, there are really good reasons for that:  I was out of town for several Sundays in November, for a WELCA retreat and during Thanksgiving travels.  During two Sundays, I was in charge of the service, and I rarely sketch when I'm in charge.  And I've sketched in other journals--I have a journal just for Sunday sketching during the service.

Still, it was strange to realize that I've let my Sunday journaling fall away.  So yesterday, I made this sketch:



As I often am this time of year, I was struck by the words of "O Come, O Come Immanuel":  words about exile, words about loneliness.  I wrote a haiku-like thing:

True selves in exile
Captured in a lonely place.
Let free flight erupt.

I wrote some other non-haiku things; in the lower left:

Ransom us!
Break
our chains!!

I also wrote down words from my pastor's sermon at the top left: 
The angel invites
Joseph to do
the crazy thing.

For those of you who have forgotten the story of Joseph and the angel who appears to him in a dream, Joseph had been planning to quietly divorce her because she's pregnant, and the child isn't his.  He could have had her stoned, but he's doing the humane thing, the sensible thing.  But the angel appears to him in a dream and invites him to do the crazy thing:  Go ahead with the wedding to Mary, who has been impregnated by the Holy Spirit. 

And that's what he does.

It was good to get back to this discipline.  I like to think it helps me focus, and I do love being able to go back to remember what my pastor preached and what else was going on in any given Sunday.  It's a different twist on journaling, and I'm grateful for this discipline.

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