My Hymn Journal - for Honor and Healing
I have sweet childhood memories of my mom playing the piano, and of her, her sisters, and my grandfather singing hymns in harmony while my mom played the piano. Sometimes my grandfather would play cords on the organ or bring out his harmonica to play. I have appreciated those times to such a degree that they have been a helpful in my healing of family brokenness. In honor of my mother and the legacy of her family, I began a hymn journal that I add to every now and then.
For the hymns I've used so far, I look for imagery in the words, and then look up the symbolism of the imagery. I also seek relevant Bible Scripture and quotes. These, as well as the hymns themselves, bring inspiration to the imagery I draw and write. Most of the hymns are found at:
The personal meaning for me in this hymn is an invitation to surrender my weary self to God in exchange for His love and light that fill me up and flow.
"See and taste the Flowing Godhead
through your being,
feel the Holy Spirit moving -
compelling you within the Flowing Fire
and light of God."
- Mechtild of Magdeburg
This reminds me of light and the light spectrum where the primary colors together, different than pigment colors, combine to make white. White light containing all the colors, pure and beautiful.
"You're here to be light,
bringing out the God-colors in the world.
God is not a secret to be kept."
- Matthew 5:16
The Message Bible
For the materials used, I have chosen to use simple, dry media - pencil, pen and colored pencils. The journal itself is a grid Moleskine journal.