Soil, sight and skin are still the three I’m working on, and today again. How we relate to the earth, how we relate to imagination and how we relate to our physical bodies. Been working on those for at lest thirty years. Let you know what I’ve found, if you’re interested. These three areas are still “hot” conversations i think! And needed. We need a clear view of each, to move in wisdom, i think!

Living in an enormous Art House! Prayer is art, art is life!
My home is where art and spirituality meet; where creativity and Kingdom intersect; where our imaginations are baptized into His. Where our image becomes more His Image!
If, as st Paul taught, we are being brought into alignment with His Image, and His Image is the exact copy or symbol or representation of His Father’s (Colossians). Conformed to His Image of Himself! Then life is about being “formed into the model and shape of His Image”. The “sanctification process is from image to Image! The whole of life is that creative process of spiritual formation. He is the exact symbol of God, and we are being wrought into that image according to Paul.
Creativity and being human are synonyms in other words. It’s one enormous art house!
This intersection between creativity and true spirituality is always where I’ve felt at home, anyway. We are God’s art projects, and His method is to carve and sculpt us towards and into The IMAGE of His Son who is the precise symbol of Himself. Life is art, in other words! Creativity implies a living spirituality! Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is art!
So in school, i studied the relationship between art and religion—it was the closest i could get to where i felt I “met” God. Dreams, art and visions have always been our “tabernacle of meeting” since i was young.
In His Imagination, and His expression through religion. I am, therefore I create….true of God, true of us! Just a thought about art and faith your way today friends—working towards an article on the topic again!
Creativity implies freedom, because where the Spirit is, there is freedom. I like living in freedom, so decided the best way was to live a creative life! So far, it’s worked!
Creativity is also a weapon against legalism and religion without God. Creativity implies actually spiritually awake living. I’ll stick with it, as a way.
Interestingly, creativity is also where prayer occurs! Prayer is creative collaboration–we make art with The Spirit, as we pray, we groan and see alongside! When we pray, we see and hear and sense, new options in the situation. Prayer is a creative act! And we are told to pray without ceasing! Prayer is to art non-stop!

Things i learn from my dog: (meditation on the end of Romans 8 and our relationship with Nature!)

My dog was howling today at the coming of early Spring today!
It reminded me that all of creation is howling, and we with it, as those helping to midwife its redemption and healing! The earth moans, we come along side and groan in His Spirit for her eventually release. That is part of our role, to pray for and with all of creation! Good teaching my dog reminded me of today! There is this holy ache to be whole in us all. Once we have gotten the first fruits of healing, we turn and start interceding for the whole and wholeness of all creation! We are midwives with His Spirit for His Creation! (Romans 8)!
I’m glad dogs make this inner howling or sighing overt! They are good at that!!!
The earth was subject to decay or frustration. We howl with her, until she too is redeemed. That’s part of what it means to pray and be first fruits. May the Sons and daughters be revealed and turn and intercede for the creation! Amen. My dog sermon today! Love being a midwife for the creatures! Groaning along with; howling us towards Oneness!
Since my L’abri days, many moons ago, I’ve always sought a real theology of Nature and our relationship to it. Romans 8 and Genesis and my dog’s howling are all good starting points! Prayer is part of stewardship of His Creation!
Prayer for not worship of, but more like midwifing with, is where I’ve come with my understanding at least of how to relate to the Creation. We enter that birthing pain! We know that HOWL—for all the earth is howling!!!

Last night, i fell into a great conversation with a local friend about meaning….
Talking to a friend about finding meaning in life…first step, realize you need meaning and step towards it. Going on pilgrimage. Head towards The Pearl. So many stories start with a hunger, thirst, a “setting out”…

We spoke about world mythology and patterns, and then i took it back to the parables of Christ, for centering. I love speaking from all culture’s stories, but do have my favorites! A treasure in a field, a pearl of great cost etc…am I walking towards that Pearl? Have I sold everything else!! Spiritual growth in Christ is my Pearl. He gives me meaning. Great talk about what causes people to set out towards meaning!

But, i realized midway through our conversation, that we were just two brothers trying to name what helps us wake up each day. The location of Hope in our lives, trying to see “The Path prepared beforehand to be our way!”.

Meaning becomes more important as you age. Success and making our marks fade as motivations, but meaning and purpose seem to remain! The ones who could endure great suffering, saw their suffering as meaningful, as part of a longer story—as Victor Frankl noted!

Speaking in other’s spiritual Love languages, and more in our own!

I was talking to someone this week, about my own spirituality, and where it’s grounded. I was using Jewish and Christian metaphors, when she stopped and asked me, if i could speak what I’ve learned in more personal language, one more “straight from my heart”. Good challenge.

Can you speak about God in another language which any person could understand, rather than in a traditional religious language? So another person can encounter whatever you have learned. Art and stories, are my preferred medium! More like telling the parables of your life! What Pearls you’ve found, what treasures to use a couple of Jesus’ metaphors.

I studied world religions and art in school, and have a heart to translate what I’ve learned of true spirituality into a more universal, but deeply authentic, language. Van Gogh says more of (and perhaps from) God, than many preachers!

Often, i find myself talking about what makes life meaningful, purposeful. How do we love and live better. All the great religions ask and attempt to answer these questions. I think it’s useful to be able to be able to speak your spiritual story in an authentic voice. For me, that includes spiritual traditions and art, especially Christianity.

But my own experience was with Christ before with Christian culture. We met in dreams and real life, and i was impressed; so we began a life long friendship. He’s still my closest friend.

But He likes all people of all cultures, so I do too. And He even likes His Church, which is not easy at times.

I liked this challenging question though. Can we speak about our faith or spirituality in an authentic way not just in our religious tradition’s language systems, but in a human way, which is true to what we have experienced from life thus far. My dad was also an anthropologist, in addition to a pastor. I think i inherited his love of other, and speaking what he’d learned in their languages!

Can we speak our story through art, for instance, which in some ways is more direct. Or, if it is authentic to speak from the language of your tradition, can you do so without borrowing, but truly “make it your own”. The idea even if your Christian, is to make sure the Stumbling Block is actually Christ, and not our language system, or way of representing Him. Learning to speak of His Life in a living authentic way, interest me. We are not converting people to Christian tradition, but introducing them to Christ Himself, as my mentor put it!
Since we are all human, we have common spiritual needs, and inner questions. So we are free to dialogue with one another on that basic human level about the things of The Spirit!

Good reminder this week. Authentic spirituality can converse in Love! And Love’s listening heart’s ear! Can we speak our heart’s songs in a living way, which can converse with the rest of our family?! Good challenge.

Of course, how we live might say more than, what we say or how we say it. Still, i like linguistic challenges in life! The parables are all about using common things to speak about and help people enter The Uncommon!

This package arrived from France today, just as I was thinking of my art mentor Julio who passed many moons ago. Even at the end, when he was making abstract art from images of his own brain tumor, he wore a beret!

My old art father and Jewish mentor in the arts and life, always wore a beret. Just got one from France today in honor of him. I hope I wear it as nobly as he wore his! Great artist, teacher and friend along the way….his family fled from Poland to Argentina back in the day, and he ended up becoming a well known artist/teacher in America. I lived under his roof during my college years in a makeshift art community!

He affirmed my creativity as well as spirituality though they were different than his own. And he taught me that art and faith should live under the same roof! We got along! He was a good spiritual art dad, which i now also aspire to be!

He, a Rabbi’s son and me, a Preacher’s kid. Makes sense in the end that we were brought together (on stage in an improv class originally; and later co-faciliating creative workshops using masks and costumes and movement!).

This one’s for him. Look forward to seeing him in the future above! In the meantime, his sculptures, replete with his teachings, are up and down the east coast down here, and in Argentina, if you ever care to look. Thanks Julio! I’ve been blessed with good art fathers along the way!

Julio was also the one who informed me that at that stage of my life, I had too much balloon and not enough potatoes! I thank him for that, and hope I’ve balanced things out a bit more by now! Maybe i live on a balloon still, but i have many bags of potatoes to keep me grounded! And now a hat to keep my head together and covered! Thanks for clearing a path in the creative forest for me friend! See ya again! Mentors matter! And this one was funny (had that Jewish gift of humor as overcoming!), as I suppose you’d have to be to mentor me!

He also taught me to see art in everything! Still do! Hope this hat reminds me so! This is a rare photo of him without his beret! Maybe it flew off, and i’m getting to wear it today! Maybe we don’t need that kind of head covering in heaven! But it’s useful down here!

Talking to some local Jewish friends (I love conversations with my many Jewish friends–always a blessing within!) today about the Shema, their twice daily prayer; and one friend asked me, what was Jesus’ hardest question… i love questions like that! Plus, these friends are very special to me, as we share the same Spirit. Well…from within His own religion, i think….

The teachers asked Him, what are the most important commands of God from a jewish perspective? He answered, The Shema, which He quoted in full;, and then- love your neighbor as yourself, in that order, He answered (Matthew 12)—i.e. Love God with your entire being, and then, as a result love others as more important than yourself.

That’s about as clear as it gets to at least what those following Christ would try to live out! Love God intensely, love others—pretty simple spiritual map, but of course, hard to live out well!

Simple clear crystallization of 613 commandments. I think it’s still a good answer to a hard question-what matters most to God, what is the essential ground of all Being, in terms of how we should actually live? Can you reduce our religion into two commands—why yes He can! And did.

By extension, can we at least live those two mitzphahs (laws, rules..)?! There’s only One God, love Him with all your might and being (soul, spirit and physical body!); then you will find yourselves loving others more than yourself! Still love that path, and His answer to the best teachers of His day! Jesus is stunning!

Jesus is still impressive even just as a teacher, much less as Friend who is God breaking in, as they say! “He is writing those laws inside of us!” as a friend put Jeremiah 33 about the law being written on our hearts! Is it not!

What are the most important commandments in your religion? Love God, then from there, love others, even extending to loving your enemies! Still not a bad answer! Great talking spirituality with these friends today! Always thankful to be in the long conversation!

How we read matters!

“We read scriptures selfishly instead of in prayerfully meeting God there. We want our pills from it, but not the medicine of true transformational encounter, which comes by prayerful reading.
Reading as encounter with God, not just information gathering. We read for us, not to encounter Him. True reading is prayer.” Eugene Peterson.
“But the Bible is not primarily a source of information; it is one of the primary ways God uses to speak to us! Bible reading is prayed reading.”
Are we reading well?! Nice thoughts from this wise elder today, on how to read in a living way!
Read less for information, and more for spiritual formation! That is, meet The Word through the word! Read as a tabernacle of meeting, and so being transformed! Prayerful reading, you might call it!

The late friend of humanity, and fellow saint Henri Nouwen taught us that to move towards wholeness we need to be meeting God in three areas: internally (in our private hearts), through His written Word (meeting The Word through His revealed words), and with His People (fellowship with the saints-both living and not- and their journeys).

These three directions, or meeting places with The Divine, are all vital to spiritual health.

Meeting God inside, through encountering Him through the scriptures, and with others who are also in living relational journey or pilgrimage with and into more of Him. Nothing’s changed about that.
But Henri had a way of putting the spiritual life in simple categories and stories which still hold true. We meet God in the heart, in His Word, and in His People!

Each of us tends to be more healthy in one of these three areas than others. Good to know which we each need more of to continue to grow in a healthy way! Pretty simple but clarion reminder today from my devotional readings today.

fun, translating a desert monk’s raw Pearl power (from the parable of the Pearl of great cost) prayer today:

I come again to this cave in the desert
where my father’s hid
this room inside where i write from.
the walls are made of Pearl
the whole Cave is The Pearl(
i want to stay here forever
everything here is white stone
including my bones
which only reflect The Son now.
at least, while i’m in this room-
The one I’m writing from
and being written from-
where all our names are etched on the walls
like spiritual graffiti.
Happy to find so many names
in the hall of saints
which seems to go on
forever. There is noone
but Jesus and all that is in Him
here now. Everything is illuminated.
Everything a Holy of Holies
with no veil. Thanks Jesus
for bringing me here again.
Your home is mine.
Who others see
is just coming from
the me I am from this place.
Nothing else is Real, but You
and now me.