Praying in Color

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Archives for October 2015

Leafy Prayer Template

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Many of my friends and family members have been moaning and groaning about the disappearance of the warmth and beauty of summer and the emergence of the colder, darker days of autumn and winter. I confess; I am a winter person. Maybe it’s because I romanticize the cold and the dark. Sitting by the fire, eating by candlelight, and snuggling under a heavy quilt are alluring scenarios. I forget about the nuisance and difficulty of shoveling the driveway, sliding around in the car on icy streets, shivering through layers of heavy clothing, and stuffing screaming toddlers into snowsuits and boots. But in spite of these inconveniences and the bone-chilling temperatures, I remember Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany–my favorite seasons of the year–and I become even more of a fan of autumn and winter. Paradox is what I really love about this time of the year: comfort in the cold, hope in the despair, light in the dark….

So here is a template/coloring page of leaves. You can do whatever you want with it, but I used it to offer up to God both my gratitudes and my gripes about autumn and winter. Some of the things written in the leaves have the infamous status of fitting into both categories.

Leaf 2 Resized

Leaf 1 resized

Click for the .jpg OR .pdf of the template. Download the template first, then print.

Ugly Little Prayers

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In a recent Facebook discussion someone said, “There is too much emphasis on making pretty prayers.” I agree. Now that I have doodled for a few decades, my prayer drawings sometimes look decent, maybe even pretty. It’s easy for their appearance to become a priority, to feel like my prayers should be an art project and always look good. But that misses the point. For me the point of praying in color is to create a prayer time and a visual prayer list. If a prayer is ugly, maybe that will implant the prayer in my mind even better than a nicely executed, appealing one.

Maybe it is important to draw sloppy visual prayers in the same way that it is important to pray sloppy, inarticulate verbal prayers. The point is to pray–beautiful or ugly, articulate or blathering wherever and whenever. I believe God receives all of our prayers, without judgment, without giving us a grade.

If you’re tempted to only keep your pretty prayers, commit to praying a few ugly ones. Choose colors that clash or ones you do not like. Use an uncomfortable name for God. Draw on a paper napkin, a paper towel, or the back of an old envelope.

Now I have showed you some of my ugly little prayers, please show me yours.

Ugly Prayers (1)

Prayers and Notes from the Road (or Air)

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On Friday I left Colorado for the first day of a marathon road/air trip: seven cities in twenty-six days. The trip includes a retreat, several workshops, and multiple visits with friends and family. Though some of it is work, I hope all of it will be pleasure.

When I travel I carry markers, pens, a clipboard, paper, and a 6-inch x 6-inch hardback sketchbook. The square sketchbook is perfect for airport and airplane prayers. Here is a prayer I drew on the plane from Denver to San Antonio.. Because it is in tangible form on real paper, it becomes a visual prayer list and a reminder for me to keep praying for the people in the drawing.

Airplane Prayer

In contrast to the smallness of the sketchpad prayer, the large easel pads I use during workshops provide a space of 30 inches x 27 inches. So much space can be intimidating except for the way I often use it. In the prayer below (with the same people as the small prayer above), I use only two shapes and use two colors. This gets me out of the “too-many choices” and “art-project” mode and lets me focus on the people I’m praying for. After I drew the initial shape for God and the arms extending outward, I drew only lines and arcs. As a non-artist, limiting my stroke choices was liberating and not constricting.

Easel Prayer (1)

Workshop: Christ Church in Greenwich, CT will host two Praying in Color Workshops® on October 24th and 25th. For more information click here. Please Share this with people in the CT and NY areas who might be interested. Thanks.

 

Coloring Books to “Bless and De-Stress”

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Paraclete Press, the publisher of all of my books (except for the famous Algebra 1 Printed Test Bank and Instructor’s Resource Guide I wrote in 2005 for Addison-Wesley ), has just released three coloring books. They were created in-house by artists at Paraclete.  I was lucky enough to see them before they went to press and to write an introduction and blurb for each.

Here is what I wrote for the introductory page of each:

“Sometimes coloring is just coloring. To put crayons to paper and create a rainbow of marks and swaths is relaxing, playful, and maybe even artistically satisfying. But sometimes coloring is more. To put colored crayons, markers, or pencils to paper is to create a pathway to the numinous. Coloring invites the body and the senses into an experience of inner stillness. While the hand moves, the mind and the body slow down. The heart and the ears open carving a space for a time of rich silence and an opportunity for God to speak.”

I have mistakenly assumed that everyone can or likes to doodle. “If my ‘C-minus-in-Art’ self can doodle, then anyone can,” I thought. This might be true, but not everyone wants to doodle. Coloring books allow people to express themselves visually and colorfully without dealing with the “I can’t draw” or even “I can’t doodle” voice.

The three new coloring books are a special addition to the coloring book market. I like the size (7″x8.5″), the format, the simple but beautiful designs, the spiritual content and the layout. There is space for my notes or thoughts. I can even add some of my own doodles if I want.

Coloring Books--Paraclete Resized

Here are some sample pages from Words of Faith and Celtic Blessings.

Coloring Book Collage 2 ResizedParaclete did not ask me to write this blog. I just like these coloring books. And I know that the designers and production staff prayed and loved them into existence. You can purchase these books from all of the usual booksellers and the publisher.