Good morning…
In our Friday morning group, we hosted a surprise birthday party for one of our friends. Classmates brought gifts and notes, balloons and a homemade cake. Along with briefly discussing our chapter, we created sandtrays, forming an expressive world with miniature symbols in colorful sand, verbally describing how it feels to gather weekly with our loyal friend as she heads into her seventieth year of life.
After we sang “Happy birthday!” and ate the delicious cake with whipped cream on top, we took time to make wordless prayer cards, again expressing the deep stirrings in our soul. Our graceful friend enjoys both the monthly sandtray gatherings at our home and our monthly wordless prayer card-making session at our church, so we celebrated together by doing these two creative things she loves.
After all of our classmates left our home, I happened upon this quote from Seena Frost, the creator of SoulCollage®, a quote which highlights the creative joy we collectively felt as together we created meaning and joy.
“I once listened to a very wise woman describe the beauty and value of a ‘hand-crafted life,’ a life that is consciously assembled from pieces that you yourself select and craft together. Such a life is not one ‘pulled off the rack,’ having been put together by others or by a culture. The SoulCollage® process of selecting images and making personal cards will serve as a daily reminder to handcraft your own life, to choose pieces that fit together meaningfully and with joy—both for you and for the planet.”
After thoroughly enjoying my weeklong SoulCollage® facilitator training in August, the Holy Spirit and I have adapted the card-making process, renaming these creative cards “wordless prayer cards.” Our creations connect us to our Creator. Be kind to me! I pray to you all day. Make my heart glad! I serve you, and my prayer is sincere (Psalm 86:3-4, CEV). What a joy it is to hand-craft with God, consciously assembling a life that is not one “pulled off the rack.”
In what tangible ways do you feel drawn to handcraft your own life, prayerfully choosing pieces that fit together meaningfully and with joy – both for you and for the planet?
…Sue…
P.S. If you would like to join us monthly for the sandtray gathering at our home and/or the wordless prayer card-making session at Northside Church, please reach out to me for times and details. As a trained spiritual director, I can also bring supplies to you, organizing a creative gathering for you and your friends for birthdays, for anniversaries, for any special occasion.
