Expressive Prayer

Lent 2012, Day 4: I am afflicted and poor

2012-02-24T23:08:00.001-08:00

Hear me, O LORD; answer me,
for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep me close, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who depends on you.
You are my shelter, O my God.

-Ps 86

Lent Day 3: Right Fasting

2012-02-24T17:55:00.001-08:00

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:

releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke;

Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke;

Sharing your bread with the hungry,

sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;

Clothing the naked when you see them,

and not turning your back on your own.

-Is 58

Lent 2012: Day 2

2012-02-24T00:18:00.000-08:00

I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.

-Dt 30

A member of a national amputee soccer team

choosing life, choosing what brings him and others joy.

Lent 2012: Ash Wednesday

2012-02-22T22:52:00.001-08:00

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.

Ps 51

Stay in Love

2011-08-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

Keep yourselves in God's love

as you wait for the mercy

of our Lord Jesus Christ

to bring you to eternal life.

JUDE 1:21

Everlasting Light

2011-08-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

Your sun will never set again,

and your moon will wane no more;

the Beloved One will be your everlasting light,

and your days of darkness will end.

ISAIAH 60:20

My Light

2011-08-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

the LORD is the strength of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

PSALM 27:1

Sitting and waiting

2011-08-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

Everything in me waits for Adonai

more than guards on watch wait for morning,

more than guards on watch wait for morning.

-PSALM 136:6

You alone

2011-07-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace. Give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens. And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love. Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that I may love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for the sake of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for You alone. -Thomas Merton

This little watercolor-pastel painting started as a rose. Then I framed the rose with a cathedral-style gateway. After that, I paused and looked and asked what are you showing me? I 'saw' a hooded figure. And thus, it became this green monk with the rose as its head.

Delight

2011-07-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees...
- Psalm 119

Painted at a Corkscrew and Canvas session about 3 weeks ago. (Find one and try a session with friends. It was a blast!) The painting to be copied was of a barren tree in a moonlit red-blue landscape. As the painting progressed, the red area became someone (me?) meditating and the consciousness filled up with mystical roses (a Christian mystical symbol like the Buddhist lotus symbol). Then today's opus dei gave me the psalm 119 excerpt above. Delight.

Triune God

2011-06-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

The Doxology is expressed with spray paint on asphalt by a Seattle energy company:
Glory be to the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Now and Forever. Amen.

Sleep in peace

2011-06-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord.

I will both lie down and sleep in peace;

for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.

-Psalm 4

My heart shall not fear.

2011-05-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

Holy is Thy Name...

2011-05-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

Of you...

2011-05-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 15

2011-05-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

15. Holy Saturday and Easter Resurrection: And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you."

Christ in the Sepulchre by William Blake (1757-1827)

2011-04-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

(For your divine viewing (visio divina) pleasure.) Imagine sitting there quietly and very still. Absorb the scene, let silence engulf you. Breathe the air thick with blesssedness, with God stuff. Imagine being safe and secure and tended by angels in Mother God's womb. Find that peace within that Jesus is occupying in your heart right now. Breathe. Feel. Relax. Rest in God. Now.

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 14

2011-04-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

14. Jesus is entombed. Then, having brought a linen shroud, Joseph took him down from the cross, wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of rock. Finally he rolled a stone across the entrance of the tomb.

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 13

2011-04-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

13. Jesus Dies on the Cross: When noon came, darkness fell on the whole land until midafternoon. At that time, Jesus cried in a loud voice: " Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?) Then once again, uttering a loud cry, breathed his last.

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 12

2011-04-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

12. Jesus is on the Cross, with his Mother and Disciple below: Seeing his mother there with the disciple whom he loved, Jesus said to his mother: "Woman, this is your son." In turn, he said to the disciple: "There is your mother." From that time on, the disciple took care of her.

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 11

2011-04-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

11. Jesus Promises to Share his Reign with the Repentant Thief: One of the criminals hanging with him blasphemed him: "Are you not the Messiah? Then save yourself and us." But the other one rebuked him: "Have you no fear of God, seeing you are in the same sentence? We deserve it, after all. We are only paying the price for what we've done, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then the thief said to Jesus: "Jesus, remember me when you enter upon your reign," And Jesus replied: "I assure you: this day you will be with me in paradise."

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 10

2011-04-25T23:17:00.000-07:00

10. Jesus is Crucified: When they reached the Skull Place, called Golgotha, they crucified him there, and two criminals as well, one on his right and the other on his left.

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 9

2011-04-23T00:23:00.000-07:00

9. Jesus Encounters the Women of Jerusalem: A great crowd followed him, including women who lamented loudly over him. Jesus turned to them and said: Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and your children.

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 8

2011-04-23T00:10:00.000-07:00

8. Jesus is Helped by Simon of Cyrene: As they led him away, they laid hold of Simon of Cyrene who was coming in from the fields. They put a crossbeam on Simon's shoulders for him to carry along behind Jesus.

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 7

2011-04-23T00:06:00.000-07:00

7. Jesus Carries His Cross: When they had finished mocking him and torturing him, he was led away, carrying his cross, toward Golgotha, the Place of the Skull.

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 6

2011-04-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

6. Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns: Pilate's next move was to take Jesus out and have him scourged. The soldiers then wove a crown of thorns and fixed it on his head, throwing around his shoulders a cloak of royal purple. Repeatedly they taunted him with "All hail, King of the Jews", slapping his face as he they did so.

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 5

2011-04-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

5. Jesus is Judged by Pilate: Pilate asked the crowd again, for he can not find anything that calls for the death penalty. But they only shouted back: "Crucify him!" Now for the festival, he would release for them one prisoner. They chose Barabbas who had committed murder. And Pilate asked again, "What am I to do with the man you call King of the Jews?" They shouted back, "Crucify him! Crucify him." Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot is about to break out. So he took water and washed his hands in front of them, saying "I am innocent of this man's blood. See to it yourselves."

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 4

2011-04-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

4. Jesus is Denied by Peter: A servant girl saw him sittiing by the fire. She stared at him for a while, then said: "This man was with Jesus." But Peter shook his head and said: "I do not know him." Then he went out into the gateway where someone else saw him and said: "You are one of them, right?" But again, shaking his head, Peter said: "Not me, I am not!" A little later the bystanders said to Peter: "You are certainly one of them! You are a Galilean, aren't you?" Peter got angry, shaking his head more violently, as he screamed: "I do not know the man you are talking about!" At that very moment, a cock crowed twice, and Peter recalled Jesus' words: "Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." He broke down and wept bitterly.

Scriptural Station of the Cross: 3

2011-04-20T23:14:00.000-07:00

3. Jesus is Condemed to Death by the Sanhedrin: Once again the high priest asked Jesus: "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" Jesus answered: "I Am; and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Father coming down with the clouds of heaven." At that the high priest tore his robes and said: "You have heard the blasphemy. What is your verdict?" They all agreed in the verdict "guilty" with its sentence of death.

Scriptural Station of the Cross, 1 and 2

2011-04-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

1. Jesus Prays in the Garden of Olives: He went with the disciples to the Mount of Olives. Greatly distressed and troubled, he told them: "My soul is sorrowful, even unto death. Remain here. Watch." Then he stepped away from them, knelt down and prayed: "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; remove this cup from me: yet not my will but yours be done."

2. Jesus is Betrayed by Judas: And while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a crowd carrying swords and clubs. Now the betrayer had given them a sign: "The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him." Upon arriving, Judas came up to Jesus and said, "Master!" And he kissed him.

Zen Jesus & Rivka

2011-04-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

My friend, Rivka, and I attended a week-long Silent Zen Retreat at Mercy Center, Burlingame, CA last year. In the meditation room, the altar centerpiece is of Jesus sitting like a Zen monk with a white rose behind him. We sat in silence for at least 8 hours a day, and that image left an impression in me. Rivka asked me to make one for her and I decided to create one for her birthday. And so here it is. My first-ever sculpey creation. It will not be the last one. Boy. When I was struggling with it, my mantra was, Jesus, help me. About 6 inches high, it was glued to a repurposed decorative coat hook from Pier 1 imports. Zen Jesus, I call it, now resides in Rivka's meditation altar.

This is a study in charcoal.

Here's Zen Jesus.

This is what I live for...

2011-02-24T23:05:00.000-08:00

"Let me rest in Your will and be silent. Then the light of Your joy will warm my life. Its fire will burn in my heart and shine for Your glory. This is what I live for. Amen, amen." -Thomas Merton

Seeking God via visual journaling

2011-02-14T15:43:00.000-08:00

The following are pages from my sketch book that I try to carry with me wherever I go with the intention of catching a glimpse of the Holy One by sketching what's in front of me. Sketching and drawing requires deep attention in the process and towards the subject. And if the subject is the Divine, isn't that prayer?

This is a tree outside Cafe Ladro, a favorite hangout for me in my town.
Just so you know, trees call me. They tell me a lot of stories.
I am continually inspired by the stories of the first Adam, and of the new Adam.

Left: my soy latte and a giant slice of apple pie and Meditation book by Thomas Moore.
Right: shows someone chatting with a friend... or the Beloved.

Bliss is

2011-02-09T22:53:00.000-08:00

I wish I can verbalize what bliss is. That's why I offer this drawing of how it felt during my centering prayer. Mind you. This rarely happens. But maybe the more I commit to regular sitting, bliss will happen more often. (Brush-drawn on bond paper with an old drawing on the other side. Not aware of it while drawing but it adds to the feeling of bliss, doesn't it?)

Expressive Prayer is...

2011-02-08T23:08:00.000-08:00

... the creative response to God’s call to Love. Expressive Prayer is a haiku poem, a silent humming of a Gregorian chant, a spontaneous dance, a flow yoga vinyasa, a collage or sculpture, an automatic drawing or painting. I hear the Beloved's call through the practice of lectio divina, or holy reading-listening to scriptures, other love poems to God, and to life. Expressive Prayer is not about the result, or the destination. It's about enjoying what could be the last ride of this given moment. All else are simply by-products.

These by-products are what I offer in this blog with the intention of inspiring you to your own unique creative response to the Beloved's desire to be with you. Expressive Prayer is like saying to the Creator Spirit: Back atcha!

The following are pages for a Book of Hours project. They were done on a 4"x4" children's board book. Enjoy.