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Möbius Prayers

May 11, 2013 by Sybil Macbeth 2 Comments Leave a Comment

Möbius strips are intriguing. A Möbius strip is created by taking a closed band, cutting it, and reattaching it after making a single twist in one of the ends. Unlike a circular band, a mobius strip doesn’t have an inside or outside.  If you place your pencil anywhere in the center of the strip across its width and start drawing a line along the path of the strip, you’ll end up right back where you started from. There are some interesting Youtubes and animations about Möbius strips–especially ones with ants and gears.

I want to be able to draw a Möbius strip. I’m getting closer, but not really there. Here’s an attempt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve wanted to draw a Möbius strip partly as a space for prayers–either in the center or along the band itself. I imagine the prayer being spoken or breathed along the strip. The prayer goes on and on without ever stopping–even when I no longer pray it. Here is a prayer for friends and their families using a model of a Möbius strip from a UCLA website.

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Filed Under: Praying in Color Tagged With: Möbius band, Möbius strip, prayer, Praying in Color, unceasing prayer

Powerless Prayer

September 15, 2010 by Sybil Macbeth Leave a Comment

Step One of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon is “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol–that our lives had become unmanageable.” Because my life is often unmanageable and chaotic, I say the first step a lot, substituting other words for alcohol: sugar, my adult children, the government, the neighbor’s dogs, the weather, the church, my computer….” The list is endless.

A popular rewrite of Step One says, “We admitted we were powerless over people, places, and things.” A friend of mine likes to say, “We are powerless over ‘nouns’.” Step One is a way to acknowledge my inability to fix everyone or everything that displeases me or makes my life feel out of control. Step Two invites God into the chaos: “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” It doesn’t say God will fix the annoying nouns in my life to my liking; it just says God will restore me to sanity. My take is: God will fix me—or at least shape up my attitude.

When I wake up in the middle of the night obsessing about the crazy-making  people and things in my life and creating new ways to repair them, I have a choice to make. I can continue down the delicious path of resentment, blame, self-righteousness, and Möbius-strip problem-solving. And I’ll lose all hope of sleep. Or I can wave my white flag and surrender to the prayers of Step One and Two. “I give up. I admit I am powerless over________. Please, God, restore me to sanity.”

Photo of Möbius strip: David Benbennick from Wikipedia site under terms of  GNU Free Documentation License

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Filed Under: Praying in Color Tagged With: AA, Al-Anon, Alcoholics Anonymous, Möbius strip, Step One, Step Two, surrender, Twelve Steps

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