Uphill idealist

This week the True Sisterhood group in Jamestown met and we tested out a art/prayer/project from my friend Lynne . We have also been reading Laura Truax's book "Undone" and had come to a place where this hands on project fit perfectly. We did our best to " Ring the bells that still ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack - a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." (Anthem by Leonard Cohen) . We broke clay pots. We wrestled with re-gluing the broken pieces. We laughed, encouraged, and cheered one another on. We rebuilt. We painted. Here are some pictures of our project where we embraced brokenness and discovered beauty. Balance Beautiful Mess Beauty from brokeness Works drying Definitely not perfect  Exposed rough spots Peace Rebuild Rest Sharp edges Superman's house - Fortress of Solitude  

This year in our Shared Confirmation Program, we used Sparkhouse's re:form curriculum and DVDs, enjoyed a Autumn retreat together and integrated Art and Prayer elements to the expereince.The heart image below is a prayer process of weaving hopes and sorrows in a visual manner. This exercise was adapted from my friend Lynne Farrow's resource book:  Art Making and Metaphor Last Sunday, this group of youth, their parents and teaching team had an opportunity to meet at Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center to share in a time of games, art making, food and fellowship. The banner project was begun by our Create Fellowship that meets on a monthly basis at First Lutheran Church. This group designed the banner, transferred this design on a canvas painters drop cloth by using masking tape as a guide, and began painting the banner. Acrylic paints (found at a Walmart or Michael's) were applied to the canvas to create the Pentecost themed design with wind, fir...

Image from official True Sisterhood website. "True sisterhood began with "four fearless yet fragile women tackling the issues of life and relationship from a distinctively Christian perspective. Hosted by Constance Rhodes w/ Margot Starbuck , Sharon Hersh , and Paige Armstrong ." says the official web page for True sisterhood. Over this summer a group of Jamestown women began getting to know a little about this group of ladies and if all things work out well, our stated small but not so small group of over forty women interested in growing in faith, confidence and purpose might become and official chapter /partner with this greater organization of "True sisterhood and Finding balance." We hope to find out in the next month or so if an official partnership with this "big sister" organization will be possible. Years ago, I was incredibly influenced by the author Madeline L'Engle and never wrote to tell her. Madeline passed away in 2007, and...