"Pray Without Ceasing"
Acrylic on Gessobord with 3/4" birch sides 12" x 12"
Wired to hang.
People speak about prayer from different perspectives. I remember feeling very uncomfortable with it in my teens and early twenties. It lined up with my own questions, doubts and wrestling with who this God is. Everyone has their own stories that color if they can even equate the notion of a Greater Power with the word God. Sometimes they use the word Universe or Light. Different languages and religions have different names for this Greater Power. Yahweh, Allah, and God are all names we've assigned to help our understanding. of something beyond ourselves. None of these names are adequate, because the Great Mystery is beyond our comprehension. I've come to learn and appreciate that some people experience God in nature, a newborn baby or in the beauty of music, poetry or art. I've also come to appreciate that prayer, sometimes formal, sometimes informal, is a conversation, a connection to that which we cannot fully understand but that we trust is behind, underneath and in front of all that exists.
This painting is an illustration of prayers for morning, noon and night in the Hear My Voice: Prison Prayer Book, Pray Without Ceasing. Is your life a prayer? Um, yeah, I don't feel like mine is...but I wonder what it would be like if I prayed without ceasing. Seems impractical and impossible. But what if we were more mindful of God throughout our day? What if we expressed gratitude daily? Would it change how we see and act in the world? My husband and I have started a gratitude bowl. I cut small pieces of paper and left some pens by this bowl. When I see it on the dining room table, I stop a moment and write something down, fold it and throw it in the bowl. It's a tangible reminder to give thanks. I've not run out of things yet! This painting, too, is a reminder of a mindfulness and awareness to connect with God and each other throughout the day, however you speak of this Love which surrounds us and is in us.
"Pray Without Ceasing" is part of "Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book" which will launch in August at the ELCA's Churchwide Gathering. Here's a link: ://go.augsburgfortress.org/hear-my-voice-a-prison-prayer-book.
* This painting is available for purchase at $250. Email me at RobynSandAnderson@gmail.com if interested. I will be posting more. This painting has SOLD.
This painting is an illustration of prayers for morning, noon and night in the Hear My Voice: Prison Prayer Book, Pray Without Ceasing. Is your life a prayer? Um, yeah, I don't feel like mine is...but I wonder what it would be like if I prayed without ceasing. Seems impractical and impossible. But what if we were more mindful of God throughout our day? What if we expressed gratitude daily? Would it change how we see and act in the world? My husband and I have started a gratitude bowl. I cut small pieces of paper and left some pens by this bowl. When I see it on the dining room table, I stop a moment and write something down, fold it and throw it in the bowl. It's a tangible reminder to give thanks. I've not run out of things yet! This painting, too, is a reminder of a mindfulness and awareness to connect with God and each other throughout the day, however you speak of this Love which surrounds us and is in us.
"Pray Without Ceasing" is part of "Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book" which will launch in August at the ELCA's Churchwide Gathering. Here's a link: ://go.augsburgfortress.org/hear-my-voice-a-prison-prayer-book.
* This painting is available for purchase at $250. Email me at RobynSandAnderson@gmail.com if interested. I will be posting more. This painting has SOLD.
