Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Blowing Out the Dust Within


Rushing wind blow through this temple,
Blowing out the the dust within;
Come and breathe your breath upon me:
I've been born again.
Holy Spirit, I surrender; take me where you want to go.
Plant me by your living water,
Plant me deep so I can grow.
~ Keith Greene, from his song "Rushing Wind"


It has been a painful several months of discernment for me, as I ponder my gifts and skills and where they meet the world.  And as a friend reminded me this week, growth, unfortunately, usually involves a certain degree of aching discomfort. Feeling my spirit going down this afternoon, I caught up with my old, old friend Charles and we set out for a casual afternoon at the White Rock Coffee Shop. 

Charles is one of those people who always creates an accepting, comforting  quiet space for me.  Today he grabbed some art supplies on his way out the door, and after buying me a cup of coffee AND raspberry cheesecake (such kindness!), we sat found a cozy spot.  Over casual conversation, we played with his watersoluble ink pencils.  Not really in a mental space to challenge myself artistically, I settled on a dragonfly.. thinking about a very supportive friend for whom dragonflies are sacred symbols.  I, of course, am drawn to insects for their transformative qualities.

So we played... with no high expectations of ourselves, no deep thoughts.  What a compassionate and comforting gift to ourselves to just let go and let the color flow!  A lady nearby noticed us and struck up a conversation about a sketchbook she spontaneously bought awhile ago.  Perhaps she was inspired to play in it herself.  And as we walked out, with the sun beginning to set, the freshness of the air on my flipflopped feet, (yes just a week ago it was that terrible ice storm in Dallas), we both turned to each other and remarked how balanced and clear we felt after our lovely few hours.  How wonderful when art can be not only a medium for provoking deep thoughts, but also for calming our souls!

More from the song listed above:

Separate me from this world, Lord:
Sanctify my life for you.
Daily change me to your image,
help me bear good fruit.
Every day you're drawing closer,
Trials come to test my faith.
But when all is said and done, lord,
You know it's been worth the wait.

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful post! :) Love, love, LOVE it! :)

    ~Pea ♥

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very thought provoking post - art in any guise has the power to transform a mood, a day, life-time. I'm following you and glad to have found you. I have a weekend long blog hop which begins tomorrow if you'd like to link up and meet other creative bloggers, please come along. Its quite new and would value your link. I also do a weekly feature for one lucky participant. This weeks feature is up right now. Questionable on creativity and you can 'sell' your projects etc too. Either way, great post. I'll by again soon. Shah from wordsinsync.blogspot.com. X

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Cori, thankyou for your message! :) I would be honoured for you to use my pictures for the dream window and to link back. I love this post about drawing dragonflies in the cafe, it's so lovely to do something creative when you're out and about isn't it? xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a perfect day... a good friend, treats for the taste buds...and making art! And doing it in public...what fun. I love that you very well may have inspired a passerby. I bet she went home and drew too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. To many more beautiful days like this! :)
    ...and I really like the song... it reminds me on the forest & lake... peace & freedom...
    xxx

    ReplyDelete

Your thoughts are a blessing to me!

Share this Post!