On this particular day, I came into the Art Studio feeling a lot of things. My friend asked me how I was doing. I didn’t want to talk about it particularly but I admitted that I felt mad. I was mad at the injustices that occur. I was mad about people being treated unfairly. She asked if I wanted to paint together. I looked at her with great hesitancy; she was proposing to paint “together” on one canvas. This felt scary and vulnerable but I knew I had to say yes and I’m so glad I did!
We each picked out a few colors that we were drawn to. I started with red x’s and she started with blending blues. We took turns, respecting one another’s space and creations and asked permission to paint over different spaces. it was a beautiful dance as we turned the canvas and viewed it from all sides, listening and waiting for our intuition to show us what might come next.
As we painted, we were processing what was happening in our mind, body and spirit. My whole being slowly calmed and came to a place of rest where I was able to breath deeper and I began feeling peace rather than anger. But what made this collaborative painting experience so powerful is the fact that my friend welcomed me in and allowed my emotions to be true and sat with me in them and walked through the process of coming to the other side. I call it “The Great Covering” ... not only because of how I felt so covered in my friends love and hospitality but also because it makes me think of God’s great covering in the midst of every circumstance and at every step we take. I’m thankful for a friend who demonstrated this truth in a life-giving way on this day.
“Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him. O people in Zion, inhabitants in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. Although the Lord give you the bread of privation and the water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. And your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:18-21
