LENT WEEK 3
Haiku Meditation
Cultivate beauty
Uncared for soil grows weeds
Turn over the old
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 1 Peter 5:10
Cultivate beauty: The definition of cultivate is “to improve or develop by careful attention, training, or study.” Cultivating requires great intention much like a spiritual discipline. What we devote our time to and what we fix our eyes and attention on is what we will cultivate in our lives. The eyes of our heart, our imagination, is a God given gift of the ability to dream and envision a reality that is not yet tangible. Even with a garden, we plant a tiny seed that looks nothing like what it will become. However, because we can imagine the beautiful blooms, we take great care and intention to provide what it needs for those blooms to become a reality.
Our imagination is a seedbed and what we plant in it will become what we believe to be true. Like caring for the seeds in the garden, it is vital that we take the same care of our imaginations through attention, training and study as the definition of “cultivate” suggests.
Uncared for soil grows weeds: This week’s haiku meditation comes straight from a gardening article on how to prepare soil for the transition from winter to spring. There is a great deal of attention that goes into it. One gardening article literally said the exact words, “Uncared for soil will only become suited for weeds to grow.” How often does the soil in our hearts go uncared for?
A key practice to prevent weeds from taking over our hearts and minds is to position ourselves to see beauty and to allow ourselves to be formed by it. There are many distractions in one day that are designed to hijack our imaginations, however, what we fix our eyes on is what we will become. How much time do we spend scrolling the internet, Netflix, Amazon, news apps…etc? Our time and attention can be so easily squandered and leave us feeling empty, irritated, angry or even numb. We give over our imaginations too often to the thief of distraction which leads to becoming desensitized. Positioning ourselves to see beauty awakens and revitalizes our senses and allows the sanctifying of our imaginations.
British Theologian Oliver Davies says: “When the imagination takes purchase, the human self who imagines begins to find him or herself at home in the world. For the imagination is primarily about envisaging possibilities of new existence or new meaning which are constructed from and remain true to the realities that we already know. Our imaginations take us to new places and situations previously unconceived, but they do so by the disciplined reordering of the sensations, memories and perceptions of what is already familiar to us.”
This suggests a discipleship of the imagination through the training of our senses. This is where creativity comes in. It can act as a reordering of our senses and a training ground to fix our eyes on the things of God rather than be held captive by distractions. By design, we have all been given the unique ability to be creative as the signature of God upon humanity. We are capable of imagining new possibilities and creating into them. We can imagine the warmth and comforting smell of a loaf of bread baking, which leads us to go through the creative steps of making the bread. Then, because creativity is inherently generative, what we make gets shared and like a loaf of bread it can multiply by being broken apart and shared in community.
Recognizing God’s creativity through nature is also a discipleship of our senses and imaginations. The beauty of nature is a caretaker. The earth sings out the song of the glory of God each day and we can partake in it. Take notice and pay attention to what creation is singing. This week try the experiential creative practice described below.
“The heavens are telling the glory of God; they are a marvelous display of his craftsmanship.” Psalm 19:1
As we take this season of Lent to renew our daily rhythms, let us give over our imaginations to be formed by more of God’s presence. If we do not create these rhythms for ourselves, the demands of the world will create rhythms for us that will most likely leave us exhausted and confused.
Turn over the old: As preparations continue for the garden emerging from winter, one important step is to turn over the old soil that has become hardened on the top and expose the vulnerable soft soil that lies beneath. There can be no ushering in of the new season without turning over the old. The garden cannot hold onto the top layer that has carried it through the winter. Tilling is needed to stir up the rich elements underneath and allow for new things to emerge. Like we meditated on in the first week, the soil is a storehouse for things to grow. It has all the elements needed and stores them up to be made ready for when it’s time to grow again.
We can trust that God has made us ready for the season he is ushering us into. But we must turn over the old for him to make way for the new.
Embodied Movement Meditation “Preparation”
Below are guided journal prompts and suggested hands on practices for reordering and discipling your senses to create rhythms of cultivating beauty in your life.
Guided Journal Prompts:
What are we planting and watering?
Are we creating a suitable seedbed for beauty to grow or weeds?
What old ways, habits or patterns of thinking do you need to turn over to God?
What are the main daily influences on your imagination and your senses? Take inventory for a couple of days and write down the things you devote attention to.
What are a couple of tangible ways you can cultivate beauty in the ryhthms of your day?
Position yourself to cultivate beauty in your life by:
-slowing down
- turning off distractions
-baptizing your imagination in the natural beauty of your surroundings
-exercising your inherent creativity as Imago Dei, made in God’s image.
Experiential:
Take a camera or your phone and go on a photo prayer walk. Ask God to attune your senses to see his beauty and take photos of what draws your attention. Afterwards, take time to journal with each photo about the details you saw and how it affected you.
Take the time to make something with your hands this week. It could be baking, wood work, planting something, sewing, painting…etc Don’t think too much about what it is but rather meditate on the process and how it reorders and disciplines your senses to see God reflected in the act of making.
Art work by Natalie Salminen Rude
https://nataliesalminen.com
Haiku by Libby Johnson
Dancer Carlie Price
Music by Ty Rex
Copyright Vivid Artistry 2022
May not be used or duplicated without permission