LENT WEEK 6 — Vivid Artistry

Haiku Meditation

Abundance unfolds

From tiny seed to full bloom

All things are made new

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 12:24

Abundance unfolds: The amazing thing about a seed is that its fullness of beauty requires it to be broken open and undone. The shell cracks open, its insides come out and everything changes. The transformation looks like complete destruction. Much like Christ’s journey to the cross, it was in the breaking of his body and the pouring out of his blood that the abundance unfolded. His death on the cross looked like the end, but his complete undoing was our new beginning.

From tiny seed to full bloom: We need only look to the tiny seed to see that all things are possible. No matter how small a beginning may seem, if given the right conditions it can grow into a beautifully blooming garden. This is the hope we have when God holds our future. No matter where we’ve been or where we may be starting over from, we will still see new life grow from our smallest offerings. It is all about surrender. The seed surrenders its undoing to the prepared soil, the storehouse of abundant provision supplying all that’s needed for the seed to grow.

All things made new: We have journeyed through the preparation phase of a garden from winter to spring. We’ve gone from the restoration of the fallow winter to being made ready for a new season of growth. Securely planted in God’s Word, the Truth cultivates generative beauty in our lives as we receive the fullness of his grace he offers us through the cross.

This has been a pilgrimage from fallow to fertile, from death to life. This is the Lenten journey. It’s in the undoing, suffering and dying of Christ that we are made new. Through his death to resurrection, we have the hope that our story is never over. The garden can always bloom again, if properly cared for.

Guided Journal Prompts:

How has this Lenten journey led you to a posture of surrender?

What are you hoping and praying for to be made new again in your next season?

What did you discover in this journey?

Embodied Movement Meditation: UNFOLD

Creative Response: Retrace your Lenten journey of the past 6 weeks with what I call a “word map of remembrance.” On a blank page, write down single words that describe anything that has come up for you in this journey from winter to spring. They don’t have to be organized or written in any order. Don’t think of this as a list but more of a map of discovery of how God has been leading you. Through prayer and reflection, see how the words reveal how you’ve been led through this season. Is there one word that especially stands out or keeps coming up?

Other ideas for your word map:

Find your words in magazine pages, cut them out and make a word map collage, use paint or drawing as un underlayer
Write a haiku using your word map
Write a psalm using your word map

Thank you for joining me on this devotional series. Thank you to my friends at Art House North for partnering with me in this season and sharing the weekly reflections. The art work each week was created by my dear friend, Natalie Salminen Rude. I used close ups of an art installation she created for a Vivid Artistry retreat in 2018 which became a prayerful focal point for the attendees to interact with. This final week you see the reveal of the full piece. It consists of hand drawn maps of Duluth, MN and has since hung in Duluth City Hall. I am so thankful it could lead the way for us through the revealing of a wintering season to the new hope of spring’s arrival in our hearts. Happy Easter my friends!

Art Work by Natalie Salminen Rude

Music by Ty, Rex

Haiku by Libby Johnson

Dancer MJ Thompson

May not be used or duplicated without permission