Another double page spread of Inktober sketches. They are OK but could have been better if I’d spent more time on them. But, it is as it is and is better than nothing I suppose.
Day 28 and ‘Ride’ reminded my of the picture I had of me riding the dragon as I overcame fear. See my blog on 16th October “Inktober and the Dragon”. I was quite pleased with this one.
Day 29 word was ‘injured’. After a while of looking for inspiration on Google images I came across pictures of an injured bird and because it reminded of a collage I did on retreat a few years ago I decided to draw this.
I wanted to put in the scripture that had prompted my original collage, which I have not been able to find (the downside of moving house). However I have found a scan of it. It had been made from feathers found while on retreat. I often find that when things catch my eye whilst out walking I turn to prayerful mulling things over.
On this occasion I had been lying awake at night mulling things over. The retreat had brought to light a lot of pain and I was going through the mill a bit. Actually that is a gross understatement. I was on sick leave to come to terms with the end of my marriage. When I came to morning prayer the psalm for the day was Psalm 102
Psalm 102
A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.
Hear my prayer, Lord;
let my cry for help come to you.
Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
When I got to verse 7, I laughed out loud.:
I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.
The image that I had was of a bird with a broken wing. The next day I did a collage and expanded my prayers to acknowledge that although I was in a bad place now, one day I would rise up on wings of the Holy Spirit. I left the Inktober picture as it was because the scripture wasn’t about a bird with a broken wing. Just goes to show how our memories don’t always give an accurate recall.
As I was going through a folder to find that picture I came across a card from my then vicar’s wife and deaconess who was with me in my early stages of faith, back in the very early 1990s. I had been opening up to God and allowing him to see the pain deep within me and receive healing. I had a great tendency towards anxiety as well as depression in those years and found being still difficult. The words from Zephaniah 3 had been given to me via her some time before that, as a prophecy.
It took many years to get there, but I can see that God was very patient in calming me and bringing me into a much better place emotionally and spiritually than I was then.
And if he can do that for me, then he can do that for you!
Elizabeth Jones' Diary 