Below is a prayer drawing I have been using for a couple of weeks. As new prayer concerns came to mind and heart, I added doodles. The act of drawing focuses my prayers and my wandering mind. Every time I look at it, the resulting picture reminds me to pray. Sometimes...
Blog
I have been writing the Praying in Color blog for over a dozen years. The entries include theological musings, memoir, reflections on life and Scripture, and hundreds of posts on ways to incorporate Praying in Color into your prayer and spiritual life. In the search bar you can type words like “Scripture, Advent, Lent, calendar templates, intercessory prayer, mourning, gratitude, forgiveness…” or other topics of interest to find related posts. I hope you enjoy exploring this site.
Memorials and Memories
My mother and father are both deceased. For years they asked my husband and me the question, "Should we be buried or cremated and where?" We talked about the options. But it was not a question we could answer for them. Sometimes, however, I wish I had. They chose to...
Olives
The Bible mentions olives, olive trees, olive branches, olive oil, and the Mount of Olives in at least thirty books. Olives were part of the economic system and the food chain. A good crop meant prosperity; a bad crop was disaster. Analogies using olives abound in the...
Better, Batter, Butter….
"Meet my better half." How often I hear this statement when I'm introduced to someone's spouse or partner. It's usually intended as a compliment, a sweet comment about the esteem the person has for their loved one. A couple of days ago I ate breakfast with a group of...
Repairs
I'm tired of being a careless slob. A month ago I damaged a brand new orange purse by tossing a permanent black pen into it. The ink seeped through the lining and left a quarter-sized, unbudgeable blob on the leather. The same kind of black pen left a conspicuous mark...
Fearless Mothering?
My friend Cindy often creates a drawing in response to a word suggested each week on a website called Illustration Friday. The word for this week is "fearless." Here is Cindy's drawing and the words she wrote to accompany it on her blog Mostly Markers: I was wondering...
Black and White Centering Prayers
Centering Prayer, as I understand it, is a way to still the body and the mind and to deepen our relationship with Christ. It "facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer — verbal, mental or affective prayer — into a receptive prayer of resting in God."...
Name Prayers
Here is a simple way to draw prayers for others. Take a colored marker and write or print the person's name. Take a dark pen and outline the name. If it's in script, outline the outsides and then the insides. Add other markings and doodles to the name---lines, dots,...
Actually
Actually, the word actually drives me crazy. It must be the most popular word of 2009-2010. Radio and TV commentators say it; my friends say it; and I say it. We polka-dot every other sentence with the word. "Actually, we weren't in town last weekend." "We actually...
Looking and Seeing Prayer
Spring in Memphis is like a miles-long altar decorated for Easter Sunday. Azaleas, dogwoods, tulips, and redbuds are in full bloom in yards, on median strips and along the highway. In a grouchy and sad mood earlier this week, I plopped down on a front porch chair and...