The plague has left the walls of my house so I am once again free to paint. Over the weekend, I took some time to walk down to Top in Woodinville to get some bread to go with my pot of soup on the stove (Top makes the best bread around, IMO--if anyone knows of better, let me know; I love bread!). On the way, I popped in some headphones to listen to some Janna Adams on my iPhone. What followed was nothing short of amazing!
So, I've been pondering a lot lately about Spiritual things; among them pretty much everything I was taught in all the churches I have been, everything I have been told by other Christians, attitudes I have seen, etc. Jesus, I don't question. But I do question things that seem to be, well, odd. Like how is it that Jesus said that we would do greater things than He did, and yet we see theologies that flat out say that's not possible, or not for this time. Or how much of Western Christianity lacks the color of it's roots where the East meets West. Another one I've struggled with is prayer. God first found me. He spoke loudly and with great joy directly to me 'Come on! Follow Me! Let's go on an adventure!!', and so prayer was kind of an on-going dialogue, like breathing. But then I was taught how to 'properly' pray, complete with lists and cursory time to 'listen', though I was told pretty much the only way I'd hear from God was the Bible (and I'm not knocking that--I do hear Him there, and I know others do, too!). But darn it, I KNEW there was something more!!
So I'll let you in on a dark secret. I stopped praying the way I was taught. Gone was the prerequisite time to sit and pray over a list of requests (though lists can be helpful, not knocking lists). Gone was the 'Dear Lord' beginning and the 'In Jesus' name, Amen' (replaced with Pap--it just fits! Read 'The Shack' and you'll understand). I simply sought to hear God. And be open to how He wanted to speak and interact with me. I had to let go of my 'training' for a while to stop being afraid I was doing something wrong and realize that as an individual, I may have a different way of working (certainly seems reasonable considering how odd I can be anyway). And indeed, I was right. All of a sudden, I could *see* prayer. I could, for lack of better term, visualize what I would have otherwise been babbling about, and with a whole lot more passion, get something done when I prayed. This went both ways--I'd see something I wanted to bring to God's attention, and He'd give me pictures right back! Suddenly, I was getting insight into people's lives that sort of freaked me out (later learned that was so I could pray for them more effectively) and I'd also get to 'see' what was going on in the atmosphere in places of corporate worship, and then paint it!! I could also just ask what God wanted to say to those people and paint that (gosh, some of my very best paintings came when I was least prepared!).
This whole thing when put together with painting is called 'Prophetic Painting', and it happens in some churches, though I'm sure many would plain call it 'weird' or 'something those wacky Charismatics do'. I call it finally understanding what everyone else seemed to be feeling in church! Singing is great, but singing *and* painting, well, that's Heaven!
So the painting I am working on came about on that walk I started out talking about. I sometimes listen to music when I pray and walk, and Janna Adams' album is a great one for that (she's on iTunes should you like to tune in to what's inspiring me this week). I began to pray. And then all of a sudden, it was like my head became connected to God by a CAT-3000+ wire or something. I found I could pray and receive answers and input about so many different things at once, I kinda sat back and went 'whoa!'. It was unlike any other prayer time, and the painting I am working on this week is what I saw that interaction look like.
It'll have a ton of paint and texture when done--doesn't look like it yet, but just wait. I think this one will require a pilgrimage to Daniel Smith for more colors as my favorite palette is a bit limited for this project (hence my title this week). I have to be a little more deliberate in my color choices than 'hmm, this tube is pretty full, lets use it!'. It'll also just look amazing on a wall with lighting as a piece of art--that it has such significance makes it even better! A lot of Prophetic Painters will do stuff that people in church will understand and it's obviously 'religious' art with the typical cross or lion or nails, or... That's great! We need painters of all kinds in this. I like to paint in a way that makes a painting pleasing to anyone, not just believers. The painting will always mean what I painted it to mean regardless of where it hangs and will be a blessing. My goal in Prophetic art is to just show the love of God, or some Truth He wants to share--but I like for people to stop and look for a while and wonder.
So, stay tuned! I'll probably have more to say as I go along!
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