Shalom, a Visual Word Journal, Part 3

These pages were the "ugly duckling" pages of my Shalom journal for awhile. When I started, I glued the ovals down. They were silhouettes from another project made from card stock and I liked how they were painted, but the they looked too heavy and the background washed out. Then I added more quinacridone nickel azo gold  and Transparent red iron oxide fluid acrylic paints along with a bit of quinacridone crimson and ultramarine blue as a tint around the edges of the pages and shapes. I added a stencil of a shadow of myself and wrote The Lord's Prayer with a white gel pen on top. Then I wrote more of the prayer and some of my own words around the shapes with a permanent drawing pen. It was a "art reflects life"  exercise on how much work it takes bring varying elements together in harmony. The words "come unity" and "community" keep rolling around in my head as I wonder what it should look like… Life as it should be… Shalom in the tension of "now and not yet."

Here is another portion of a  

Shalom Prayer (click here for a link to the website)

shared by the Maranatha Community: 

"You are my way

You are the way itself, the Way of Life.

So Lord I lay before you my life,

all my yesterdays, my todays and tomorrows.

I praise and thank you for your presence in my life.

I lift up in gratitude all the goodness and all the joy.

I now offer you all my hurts, my bruises, my rejections,

what I have said, and done, and thought,

all that has brought hurt to you and to others.

Lord pour your cleansing streams of living water all over me.

Make the parched deserts of my being spring to life.

Refresh me. Renew me.

Lord, breath on me afresh now and I will receive your life.

Lord reach out and touch me and I will receive your healing.

Empty me utterly of all the rubbish within me.

This moment, Lord, take away all distractions,

all temptations, all evil thoughts and desires.

Remove from me all my anxiety,

take away every hidden fear.

Help me know that your perfect love casts out all fear.

Bring me now into the deep silence of your presence.

I give you my body and ask that it may become your dwelling place."