Day 20 – 3/8

“What I am left withIs myselfAnd a big, open sky.It’s colder here.It’s quieter.I can hear my thoughts.And in this big, wide opennessI am able to say out loud,‘Maybe I wasn’t right.Maybe I need to learn.Maybe it’s time for change.Maybe that’s okay.’”— Excerpt from “Keep Digging” by Rev. Sarah AreFrom the Again & Again poetry collection…

“Gracious God, you see me when I am down, and you invite me to tell you about it. You ask me, ‘What is your name?’ And in that moment, I can respond with the lies that cover me, or I can respond, ‘I am a child of God.’ No matter what I say, I know…

“If you hold a newborn in your arms,All at once you will understandThe crook of your elbowAnd the cup of your palmAs never before—Ordinary curves of the bodyTransformed into a resting space.You were designed for love.”— Excerpt from “Hold” by Rev. Sarah AreFrom the Again & Again poetry collection by @sanctifiedart

“On the wall next to my front door hangs a resurrection cross created by a Mexican artisan. I love it so much because you almost can’t see the cross for the flowers. It serves as a reminder to me that death does not have the final word. I drew this image as I attempted to…

“As I cut tiny stencils of prayer poses, I abstracted them to depict the shrouded minuteness of our being in God’s presence. As we became a beautiful and intricate pattern of prayer and praise, I began to see other images in the patterns—masks, faces, flowers—as though all states of being are present in that constancy…

“Gracious God, Scripture says that you are my keeper, which floods me with images of cradling hands softly catching me. I imagine I could slip through your fingers if I wanted to—the freedom is there. However, as long as I want to be here, you have me. What a comforting idea that is. I think…