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“The Road Ahead” Prayers

August 29, 2012 by Sybil Macbeth 3 Comments Leave a Comment

My friend Jim Bickford is an artist and a long-time Jesus lover. He recently read Praying in Color and Praying in Black and White and pulled out his pen and his all-in-one 8 colors mechanical pencil. These are Jim’s first prayers. I like these continuous line drawings because they look like meandering paths. For me the journey with Jesus often feels like I’m wandering on winding roads in unknown territory. Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk, expressed this feeling so well for me in what is now known as the Thomas Merton prayer from his writings Thoughts in Solitude © Abbey of Gethsemani. Here is an excerpt.

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you…. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. 

Here are a couple of Jim’s “real” paintings. He often combines oils and acrylics.

 

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Filed Under: Praying in Color Tagged With: Abbey of Gethsemani, Jim Bickford, Thomas Merton, Thomas Merton Prayer, Thoughts in Solitude

Comments

  1. Constance Denninger says

    August 30, 2012 at 9:12 am

    I have this prayer on the inside of cupboard doors and also done by artist Diane Marra in my kitchen — pretty well sums life as I have seen God unfold it. She is the artist friend you met at Prince of Peace Springfield, Va. She sells this prayer on a board and calls them prayer planks

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Trackbacks

  1. On-Paper Walks with God | Praying in Color says:
    September 4, 2012 at 10:04 am

    […] Post navigation ← Previous […]

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  2. Praying with Artist Trading Cards | Praying in Color says:
    September 16, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    […] Jim Bickford uses artist trading cards to draw his intercessory prayers. Artist trading cards are like baseball […]

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