Sunday's ART of Truth - Peace, be still - 10-25-20

Video – https://youtu.be/w6yeu23R4Ec

Hello friends, I had a suggestion from a viewer to do an art journal page I had previously done, on canvas. I will link that video at the end of this one. I used Paperartsy Infusions to complete this piece. I love them! Unexpected results, oftentimes. The theme or message of this piece is “Peace, be still”.

As the piece unfolded, I really came to appreciate how the project was speaking to me the message. It is a message about chaos, messiness, ‘drippage’, bumps, and contrasts of light & dark. How much like life is that? Life is messy. It can be chaotic and very unexpected. It can feel out of control. It can feel dark. Conversely, it is full of surprise color and texture, relationships, beautiful human bumpiness. It is uncomfortable, oh goodness! It is uncomfortable. We want to fix and react and push and ‘get her done’. We want it to fit within OUR borders. Our expectations and our time table.

I feel like I lose out on so many beautiful moments because I am concerned about those things. I often want to defend myself, or at the very least, explain myself. A friend shared a post on Facebook that said ‘growth is deleting the entire paragraph and texting back, “ok”’. That really screamed at me. I don’t know if it is my obsessive compulsiveness, my need to have everything neat and tidy & wrapped up or something more. It is a daily struggle.

When we pause and think, we have the opportunity to filter out our own junk and settle into a place of peace. Perhaps, with a crystal clear lens (ok, maybe not completely crystal clear) we can evaluate our emotions, our prejudices, our longings, our brokenness & our need to be in control.

Peace, be still means giving ourselves the gift of time. It is giving others a chance to sit with their own stuff and sort. We don’t need to be in the middle of everything. We don’t have to ‘solve’ it. We certainly don’t need to fix it. Our work is the condition of our own hearts. Our intentions & our stuff that gets in the way of the best of intentions.

For me, my peace doesn’t come from inside of me. I am not capable of it. I need Jesus. He is my peace, my answer, my compass & my resting place. He is the place where I can take a deep, deep breath of peace. I can exhale poison, ugly thoughts, gross intentions, selfish desire & self-serving agendas.

In this place, we can lay bare and be who we are, in a safe place.

This is my safe place, perhaps, yours is something very different. Some people find deep peace in just getting outside into nature. For some, it is the respite of a good book. For others, it is being held by someone we love dearly.

My friends, whatever it is for you, I hope that you can get more of it. If you are going to get greedy, be greedy about peace…about being still. In our world right now, there is so much that is frightening, I admit. There are so many unknowns. In spite of this, there are places that we can go to recharge, guard our hearts & gain some perspective.

I hope this encourages you 😊 I hope that it helps you to know that you are not alone and that you have a friend…

Until next time precious friends,

Beloved-Reborn

YouTube Video: