A-Z Challenge Day 3 - C is for Contemplation and Creativity

Cats - Tiger cat in contemplative mood

Creativity

I've written plenty about creativity on this blog. Whether improvising a raincoat out of carrier bags for a much-loved teddy in the wilds of the Western Highlands, Praying in Colour, taking part in Journal 52 for the umpteenth time, (I will complete the challenge this year, I promise!), searching out weird epitaphs,  composing found poetry out of The National Trust magazine, The Big Issue and assorted mailshots, or whiling away the hours in the art room on retreat, the older I get, the more it becomes a source of sustenance. Plus it's fun...most of the time. This from somebody who couldn't 'do' art at school. I still can't 'do' it, but that doesn't stop me!

Not everything that I 'create' gets put online, in fact most of it stays hidden within the covers of my journal, only to be shared with a select few, often in the context of working through personal issues. I'm very good at self-censoring what I write. This isn't nearly as easy to do when you're working with colour, images and the imagination. Your inner self will out.  Or, to misquote a certain advert of yesteryear, " Creativity refreshes the parts that other contemplative activities cannot reach!"

What has come into being in him was life

4 May 2011 - Balmaha to Rowardennan, Durham-Iona pilgrimage

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-14 NRSV

Gazing into the mirror - St Clare

Look into this mirror of Christ daily,

ponder there your own face,

see what you need to become ready for God,

contemplate in this mirror Christ and his stupendous poverty,

look at his work on our behalf

consider his humility,

contemplate his love,

consider, look and contemplate
- from Clare of Assisi's letters to Agnes of Prague

Finding that quiet place - St Clare

Douai Abbey June 2012

I've been busy relating the alarms and excursions of last weekend to a fellow tertiary who missed our local area retreat . In all fairness, these only made up a tiny part of what I found a refreshing and challenging time out learning about the prayer  of St Clare of Assisi: she who exemplifies the more  contemplative strand of Franciscan spirituality and who, IMO tends to stay very much in the shadow of Francis. She's certainly challenging me  several years after my profession into TSSF, and at a time when my own rule of life is becoming, shall we say...slightly 'motheaten,' to look, pray, and ponder once again how I can ground my way of being.  Her life and actions really were congruent with what she believed. 

Any old way - to get back to the alarums: namely the fire alarm going off twice during the wee smalls of Sunday morning; all this against a soundscape din of some nearby 'do,' which rumbled on until dawn despite phonecalls from the monks and intervention by the police: As I lay there fuming, (hearing the dawn chorus being drowned out was particularly galling!), I  pondered again the necessity of being able to find a quiet place within myself regardless of the distractions coming at me from all sides. I didn't find that space just then, of course. If anybody has any handy hints do say. I'm sure many many have succeeded in finding peace amidst chaos; Saints all, I guess, which I very definitely am not!

Grotty as we all felt though, pity the poor monks who had to be up and doing at silly o'clock for the first office of the day.  A real gathering of Saints!

Contemplative Prayer

...a shameless link to the most beautiful reflection and artwork on what it means to pray contemplatively, courtesy of Roberta.

Stations of The King's Cross

A number of people have already highlighted this one: Stations of The King's Cross - an adaptation of the traditional stations of the cross that can be used when travelling the London Underground.