At a conference last month, I brought along some art materials and had the space to create during some of the devotion sessions.
Day 1
On the first day, I was struck by a point made by the morning speaker about the breath of God and decided to draw it during the afternoon prayer time. But I felt led to add streaks of red, representing suffering. And I realised that when He breathed into us, His breath carried the suffering that He knew was ahead both for His Son and all humanity. Hence, the fellowship of suffering (Philippians 3:10).
Then I was prompted to crush the paper and open it up again. Similarly, we may be crushed on all sides but we will not be destroyed because He is in and with us (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).
Out of the miry clay,
He lifted us up
And breathed into us-
His breath of life,
Filled with His Spirit,
Tinged with His blood
Of co-suffering foreknown.
One in Him, we are
Crushed but not destroyed
For His breath
In us lives on.
After I was done, I felt led to pick up an envelope with random Bible verses and prayer pointers provided by the facilitators. God-incidentally, the passage I got was 1 Peter 4:1-2, which reinforced the message from the picture and poem:
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.
Day 2
On the second morning, the thought just came to me to make a crown of thorns, so I cut out some magazine covers and started rolling and squeezing them. In the process, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the realisation that I was making a crown of thorns for Jesus. Should I continue? Why would I want to place the suffering on Him? But I felt compelled to keep going.
The magazine covers were rather stiff and they needed to be in order to form (and hold) the ring shape. However, rolling and squeezing them eventually led to pain in my thumbs. At this point, the speaker was talking about how Jesus wants us to share in His experiences. And that's when I knew I was actually making the crown of thorns for myself, as I share in His suffering (Philippians 3:10).
I used gold washi tape to stick the red paper onto the ring but it wasn't sticky enough. So I had to use more of the tape with doves. Under the red and gold, some of the doves from the inner layer peeped through - that seemed to represent how we can have inner peace even in the midst of pain and suffering (John 14:27). But the doves on the outermost layer also pointed to how He will restore peace when He returns one day (Isaiah 2:4).
The crown is made entirely of paper (magazine covers, washi tape, wrapping paper). And paper comes from wood. [I used some white glue to stick the thorns and I found out later that it's sometimes called wood glue even though it's not made of wood.] So basically the crown of thorns is made from trees, just like the one that Jesus wore.
Day 3 - Didn't create anything as I was helping to facilitate some creative reflection activities.
Day 4
Was inspired by the flowers in the resort one morning and decided to draw this during the devotion time.
The water lily emerges from the murky waters yet it looks bright and pristine. Its leaves even help to purify the water around it.
So no matter how difficult the external circumstances may be, let us rise above all that, and bloom and grow into the person God designed us to be. Even in the midst of pain and suffering, we can be His peacemakers to bring peace to people and situations around us (Matthew 5:9).
Day 5 - Didn't create anything as I was helping to facilitate some creative reflection activities.
Day 6 - Didn't create anything as I was helping to watch a little boy while listening to the message.
Day 7
During the morning devotion time, I saw in my mind the crown of thorns being transformed into a crown of glory when the speaker was saying that one day we will receive our crowns from Him (1 Peter 5:4).
The transformation is only possible by His blood. And incidentally, the red twisty crayon was broken just like His body was broken for us (1 Corinthians 11:24). But because the broken pieces were no longer contained in the twisty case, I could use the long sides to colour in the red stream. Similarly, we also can be used by Him to reveal His glory through our brokenness. This is further illustrated in the crown of glory which is made with washi tape that has golden streaks creating a kintsugi effect - we are broken but redeemed for His glory (2 Corinthians 4:7)!
Someone commented that the crown looks like a burning bush. My desire is that all I do will be of eternal value so that on the day when we go through the fire, all of my "achievements" will endure and be refined as gold (1 Corinthians 3:10-15) so I will hear Him say, "Good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:23)!"
Day 8
Created this during the final morning devotion time. Two pieces of paper joined together with washi tape, symbolising how we are joined with Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17).
In the stormy seas there is the red of His blood - we share in His suffering so He also shares in ours as we go through the storms of life (Hebrews 4:15). But from there a rainbow emerges, a reminder that we have hope because He has promised that when we abide in Him, He will abide in us (John 15:4).
Reflections
I don't think all the speakers at the conference were focusing on suffering but somehow God was directing me to think about this topic. Yet, it wasn't in a gloomy or depressing way. He showed through all these co-created art that out of His suffering and ours will come peace, hope, glory and beauty.
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