Mosaic Story Share

These are some of the completed individual mosaics shared as part of the Virtual Community Mosaic Prayer Square offering. Grab a cup of tea and enjoy the beauty of each person’s expression!

View the full Community Prayer Mosaic here

Paulissa’s Offering:

Paulissa’s Story:

Every square is a grounding, a moment of connecting with Spirit, my soul, my thoughts, my feelings. The 1st few words of prayer distill that moment’s truth. Always, always the process points me to hope even in this time of the Great Unknowing that is the COVID19 pandemic. As I think about that, it occurs to me that faith and hope are about accepting unknowing and the wisdom that comes from listening with an open heart.

That the marks we make – on the paper, canvas, or whatever surface we are using and in life – are teachers if we tune in. The colors we use are teachers as well. What color is your hope, your growth, your sorrow, your joy and why? The images teach as well; who or what makes an appearance – bidden or unbidden? What patterns make return guest appearances? How do we thank them for their presence in the tapestry of our lives as we come home to ourselves and our True Nature?

May we be curious in our unknowing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spark the energy of your wisdom

Wisdom carried in your DNA

Ancestral lineage of those who loved you into existence

Summon love and peace with the drumbeat of your soul

Cleanse what is stagnant with the saltwater of your tears

Remember that you are water and stardust – ebb and flow with the moon that rules the tides

Flow like water: powerful or calm and still

Let it wash away the dirt of life

Remember that we the LOVING are asked to root through gratitude, kindness, connection, and by putting our feet onto the Earth.

May we remember that we belong to and with one another

Look out for your brothers and sisters

May we feel the breezes of changes on our faces and breathe LIFE into the areas our busyness left abandoned.

May we know that our touch thoughts, and deeds – our gentle minds – will lead us back home to the vessel that is hope.

Gather it all and share it widely, for it is your gift.

Margie’s Offering:

Margie’s Story:

My soul square journey felt more like a spiraling forth. I began and planted my seed of intention. Despite this dark, and cold spring I committed to faithfully sit. My mind often like a run away puppy… ever so gently I would say BE HERE NOW. Early morning is always best for me to pray. When I was a young mom with six children under the age of eight it was the only time I would get for quiet.

Despite the painfully cold season I knew there were bulbs about to peek from the ground. The call of the birds in the early morning became my call to prayer. I begin by grounding in the earth with three deep breathes and allowing to fall into mother earth that which I do not need…resentments, fears, worries. Then I reach for the heavens begging the support of the ancestors, my spirit guides, my higher self, the angels and the Divine Feminine. I sit awaiting the dawn. Piercing behind the clouds I wait. I breathe light three times into my womb space. Filling it with light. I bear witness to the sadness that an Afghan hospital was overrun with gunmen killing mothers and their babes. I breathe in God’s love for them as I breathe out I pray that violence against women end. I then move to my heart and breathe in Light. Once again in Nova Scotia a lone gunman kills 23 people men, women, and children. I am beset by a National tragedy. I take my grief and place it in the Sacred Heart. It unites with the world’s grief in the loss of all life.

My body and the earth’s body are one. I smell bread baking. Making Sour dough bread is my latest learning curve. I lean into the smell. I think of all the times when my brother Jesus shared bread with his beloveds. I am consoled. The phone rings and interrupts my prayers my daughter awoke to a pool of blood and is rushed to the hospital for an emergency c-section. Within the week baby Jonah is dismissed from the hospital with a clean bill of health. He lives. I pray for all children who are not as fortunate. Those that languish in refugee camps, those sold into the sex trade, those that are separated from their parents. So many prayer dots accompany Jonah’s birth.

I am this bulb meant to unfurl as is every other sentient being. I open my arms to a brand new day and the promise of accompaniment. The Beloved is always there.

Suzanne’s Prayer Square Flag Offering:

Suzanne’s Story:

The Random Phoenix
Hearts and Hands
Belle Coeur
The Eye
The Earth
The Air
The Fire
The Water
Moon-in-Sun
The Cozy Cave
People
Peace
Flow-y Sunrise/Sunset

These are what I’d nicknamed the squares. I just picked new order mostly to have my favorites in the middle to “fly flags” right over altar. Why favorites? By meaning primarily in Earth, Air, Fire, Water – wanted in that order from cardinal directions/ancient tradition. The placement of Eye and Moon-in-Sun was instinctual delight at the way they look, as well as the strong card-like pull. They just spoke to me I guess. Belle Coeur had to be near. The cross arms of Spirit, Service, Sisterhood and Sacrament and the “coves between” of Craft, Study, Story, and Devotion are part of my “Beautiful Feminine Heart” for sure. The “Cozy Cave” bookends this section. Looking at the independent cat safe within, waiting, still. Makes me feel safe.

So it seems that the “story” begins with the phoenix like figure rising from the past for a new beginning. Hearts and Hands of all colors, reaching from all directions, pull this phase together in the center. After we skip along the stepping flags of Belle Coeur, the Eye of the Divine gazes at the Earth, the Air, the Fire, the Water (return, return, return, return, if you know that song ;). Moon and Sun shine on “the cozy cave” and all the People of Colors and Ages are at Peace. The path ends for now at Flowy/Glowy Sunrise/Sunset (another sing to anchor) to shine on a new day, perhaps where the Phoenix rises again and the circle begins anew.

Amy’s Offering:

Amy’s Story:

Her calling was one of caretaking. She embraced, tended, nurtured to health. She felt grounded in this practice, commanded by energies larger than herself – the sea, the universe, sometimes even God. She could see the light in the darkest of harmed and hurting others; helped them to ignite the spark of hope. She built a cocoon of protection around the vulnerable and the healing; creating space, stoking the embers of strength throughout rebuilding. And she realized she had neglected her own beautiful blue butterfly.She began to learn that the love she so fiercely gave to others could be given to herself, as well.

Wendy’s Offering:

***Connect with Wendy through her written book,***
Troubles Women Share: A Guide to Living Happier

Wendy’s Story:

This spring is a time of impending change, as I prepare to put my house on the market in Kentucky and find a job and a home in Florida. My prayer squares certainly reflect that sense of movement, and also the colors I associate with Florida are present in almost all of them.

The initial square, with its focus on “me” included a prayer for Peace, as I am embracing a choice that will affect my relationships with my children, my grandchildren, and all the other folks I dearly love in my life here. As I look at it now, I can see an uncoiling, a rising above that perfectly captures how I feel. Letting go of doubt is essential to my future success and happiness.

Looking at the others, it is interesting to me to look first at those images I created that were less abstract. The leaf, as my expression of my love for the Earth. I saw it through the window, and loved the way the light and wind played with the leaves. The heron, clearly standing near a mangrove island, as my expression of love for the animal kingdom. It insisted on being a true drawing as soon as the meditation began. Of all of the squares, this one fills me with the most delight. The seedling, reaching toward the sun, representing my prayer about what needed heat and light. Taken together they speak of my love for nature, how beautiful I find plants and animals to be. I love the small details of different organisms, how I can tell one species from another by shape, color, behavior. I love knowing what seeds do under ground before they push through into the light. Metaphysically I see my dream of moving to Florida in the seedling-an idea, a dream, is born quietly in the dark of the mind and has to do a lot of developing before it is visible to others in its infant seedling form. In that form, it is quite vulnerable. Sharing a dream too soon can expose it to the harsh elements of others negativity, and it can crumble under that weight or wither under glaring criticism. Care of seedlings and dreams is important. But they can’t stay underground forever if they are going to realize their full potential.

The more abstract squares allowed me to play with line and color more randomly, although generally in some sort of relationship with the shape my words had taken. I love words, and am most comfortable expressing myself in writing. To pick up a paint brush and just put color on paper was a new experience for me. The scale of the project, 3 inches, made that less intimidating. It was actually quite freeing, just moving the pen across the page and then swiping color on in whatever way felt right in the moment. Those colors seem like music for my eyes. The pink square with the heart was a prayer about my daughter and her daughters and how much they fill me with love. The blue and lavender fountain sings a song of peace. The pink, aqua and lilac prayer for parents with young children is a visual lullaby.

The strangest square for me is the rainbow I did for Hope. I was bothered at first because the colors seemed so much bolder than what I had been doing. I used a different medium-markers. I decided to soften that by spraying it with alcohol (hand gel I had in my pocket) and the blurring of those black lines into purple feathering across the page seemed to clash with the other squares. Bolder, darker and brighter at the same time. What strikes me now is that hope is really only present in the dark. When things are bright and rosy, we don’t need hope. The fact that I used hand gel that I have because of the pandemic is also perfect. This time in our lives is filled with opportunities to feel hope in the midst of darkness, to look for the rainbows. They are everywhere. The acts of kindness I have witnessed have most definitely filled me with hope for humanity. Not just to get through this crisis, but to grow more compassionate into the future.

Namaste

Rebecca’s Offering:

Rebecca’s Story:

I am Rebecca, bright as the sun and at the same time hidden in the depths of sorrow.

I reach out for comfort like petals of a flower opening up and feel the innate joy within me, despite the sadness of circumstances.

I see the beauty of Nature, yet she weeps for God’s Earth. My heart breaks with regret at the carelessness we have shown.

The world is an angry place with lies being spewed and distrust and heartache in the crevices of my heart. Can our society ever heal?

I pray for peace. Peace in Religion, government, countries and counties, white black brown….all races. We are His children!

I take myself to the mountains with Bear, my son’s dog (left to me while he is recovering from drug addiction in prison.) I rejected Bear, but he is ever faithful and full of love and devotion.
We find peace in the stillness.

The chaos of my fiery world turns to harmony and peace. I can’t fix everything, but there is Hope.

The Hope of the world is Jesus. He returns the bright sun to my heart. The Son is my sun! In my despair, I look to Him!

I am washed clean in the water of His salvation. I dance in waves of joy!

I find love all around me in my husband, family and friends—All Wrapped up in my bonds of life, the Abounding love of the Trinity….Yahweh, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit.

I live in a spirit of God’s growth, like the vines of flowers intertwining with love and strength. I will shine God’s light so others can see Him in me.

I breathe in all I’ve learned and breathe out love, compassion and forgiveness.

Brittany’s Offering:

Brittany’s Story:

My Prayers and my squares…
In every square there is a prayer.
Prayers for People – the global community, friends, family, and first responders
Prayers for Earth – nature, animals, water, Earth and air
Prayers for Qualities of Being – Joy, Love, Peace and Hope

I bring my heart, my love and my attention to each square and
I am reminded, I am inspired, I am humbled, I am changed…
Prayer doesn’t change who I pray too…
Prayer changes me…

And so I choose to pray, to write, to draw and to paint.
I breathe, I focus, I release what’s ready and I shift and expand.
When there’s a call to action, I act.
I share my heart and my love. I pray.
And so it is!

Michelle’s Offering:

Michelle’s Story:

As a quilt is made of blocks and tells a story so this prayer quilt tells a story. It was stitched with prayer, hopes, dreams and all life. The colors expressed feelings and thoughts. A quilt provides warmth and comfort. That is what God does for me covers me, protects me. My life are blocks, different times, happy, sad, strong, call, storms…. through it all the common thread is God is with me and I am not alone. No matter what and the block, God is with me. It is a blessing to have this quilt to remind me of things I have been through and I can rest in God’s arms for what is to come.

Ellen’s Offering:

***Prayer quilt wishing hope, peace, love and renewal for all***

Lucie’s Offering:

Ellen G’s Offering:

Connect with Ellen’s amazing, creative contemplative process where she guides others to transform recycled paper (used church bulletins, etc.) into a sacred artistic expression here:
Contemplative Crafting

Kim’s Offering: