My friend Janet has recently begun "doodling" prayer pictures. The idea came from a book entitled Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God.
After Janet's glowing review of the book, I hunted for it in the public library. A popular book, it had a number of "holds" on it. But recently I was able to pick it up and I'm now enjoying not only its drawing suggestions - but its wisdom... For example, I have always viewed worry as a negative thing. (Not that I don't worry!) But author (and math teacher - not art teacher!) Sybil MacBeth challenged me to view worry in a different light when I read what she has to say about it:
"As a starting place, worry is a psychophysical signal that something is wrong. Like guilt, it lets me know that something is askew or not quite right in the universe. I'm not a proponent of guilt-busting or even worry-busting. If I chase guilt and worry away too quickly, I miss the message they bring. They arrive uninvited, but I may need them to stick around for a while. They are my wake-up call, my psychic and spiritual reveille. Both guilt and worry can trumpet, 'Get off your duff, get out and do something, get your act together, get your hands off, get out of this situation...' But almost always they say, 'Get on your knees; this is more than you can handle alone.' Worry invites me into prayer.'
"As a staying place, worry can be self-indulgent, paralyzing, draining, and controlling... When I take worry into prayer, it doesn't disappear but it becomes smaller..."
Maybe instead of berating myself for worrying, I need to listen to my worries, asking myself what I can do about them. Then pray...
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