Quite a while ago I was telling one of my friends the story I'd tried to tell with my Elijah painting, and she got super excited and asked if I'd paint the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Months later I finally sat down with her and asked what it was that the story said to her - I wanted her to tell me the story from her perspective, and hear what it was I was going to paint.
She told me a story of someone who was relatable - as a person, but also as a woman. She told me a story about someone Jesus accepted and spoke to and revealed God to, knowing all that she'd done and said before, but accepting her regardless of it. She told me a story about a Jesus who drew people together, despite their differences in ethnicity, in customs, in opinions... So this is what you may see above, perhaps among other aspects of the story you bring to it as well. Re-read it, take a look - see what meaning expresses itself as you dialogue with the text, with the art, and with yourself. The background of this painting was actually originally part of a mini series of paintings I made exploring Communion. It had the yellow-brown of the bread, the red of the wine, and the blue of the water with which Jesus washed his disciples' feet. The preacher that morning had talked about Communion as a confrontation for change; a confession for peace; and a community for God. And part of that resonated with what I'd heard my friend telling me about this story of this woman at the well. She met Jesus, and there was confrontation, but not to wound - to change. And despite the social distinctions and differences, Jesus made a community for God through his discussion with her and her sharing of it. As I added the pearlescent blue on top of the blue of the foot-washing, the words of John 4.14 rounded my head: "The water I give becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within". And I thought how with Jesus, something so menial, something only a servant would do, becomes so life-giving. And so exciting! God changes things! God changes H E R, and God changes me!
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Hooks and waves, wind and power... flow and unpredictability. I think I've always struggled to really conceptualise what the place of the Holy Spirit is in my life. I don't know - I can't put my hands on it, and I like to get my hands dirty! I like to play with things, and test things out to see how they work and what they produce. Even in my essays, I test ideas and concepts out, meshing things together and creating arguments, seeing how it flows, building it up, seeing how it grows! Reading the Bible is something solid, I can see it, touch it, study it, wrestle with it, discover new in it! Prayer even, I can try different ways of praying, use my words, images, colours, nature, etc.! But the Spirit - what is it? We talk about the Spirit guiding us, and being in us, and being "God's presence in our lives" - but WHAT IS THAT?! A couple of weekends back I was among stunning autumnal landscapes in the Peak District for a church retreat. Amidst climbing rolling hills, jumping across stepping stones and eating SO MUCH good food, we had a session in which we looked a little bit at being continually filled with the Holy Spirit. And we'd already looked at the TSP prayer (thanks, sorry, please) before, and then one of the pastors introduced a TSP challenge for praying for the Holy Spirit to have a place in our lives each day.
How you finish those sentences can be as wide-ranging as each day is from the last! But I've been finding that something as simple as this - it just gives me a thing to put my hands on! A thing to test out! I want to test out God's promises that God will be with me - and God is only too willing to be there! In the session, the pastor challenged us to a 60-day tsp challenge, so I guess that's kind of what I've been doing! I'm on day 9, and so far, yeah, I feel different. Like the world has more possibility somehow. Like God has words each day for me to hear - some even for me to speak. I made this painting (above). Its colours make me think of something ethereal yet deep. It's fluid-like texture describes the un-graspable nature of water; it reminds me of the phrase "a chasing after the wind" in Ecclesiastes (thanks revision!). And it's true: I can't put my hands on the Spirit - I can't manipulate it to produce certain results, I can't catch it and use it when I think I need it and keep it somewhere safe when I don't. But I can ask for it in ways that, like these colours, give me a basis - give me a starting point. To want to be taught, to surrender and to know God presently and powerfully. How those colours interact is a world of possibility, and the effects they produce I may be unable to fully comprehend. But that freedom and potential - that is beautiful. God in my life is beautiful. And I want more of it. Maybe you'll consider taking up this challenge too! #tspchallenge 😉 I invite you to use it as a starting point and see what God has to say! Get your hands (and your heart) dirty and see what happens! God is full of surprises and is just waiting to come into your life more! |
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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