What has God been growing in you lately?

The parable of the sower reminds us that God's sows generously. The sower casts the seeds freely and lets them grow wherever they fall. If the soil conditions are right, the growth just happens.

Part of finding joy in the wilderness is realizing that the desert is a surprisingly fruitful place to grow, at least spiritually. It creates new spaces within us and opens up our time in a way that can improve the growing conditions of our heart if we let it.

This Lent, we seek to discover what God has been growing in us this past year; to use our time in the wilderness to explore how we have been shaped, transformed and gifted with growth.

Q. What has God been growing in you lately?

Take some time this week to ponder it. The image of the sower, or the art-based meditations below might help as well.

"Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Matthew 13: 2-9

What Has God been Growing in you?

Visio Divina — "sacred seeing" — is an ancient form of Christian prayer in which we allow our hearts and imaginations to enter into a sacred image, in silence, to see what God might have to say to us. ... All that is required is your receptive, contemplative silence.

Adapted from Lisa Boyer.com Vision Divina Basics

How to:

Simply be present to the image. Take it in as a whole. As you look it over without any particular agenda, just let it speak to you spontaneously. It might speak to you in words or wordlessly.

A few points to ponder:

Which part of the image are you drawn to visually?
How do you feel looking at the image?
If you had to describe the image in a sentence or two silently to yourself, what would you say?
If you were able to enter into the image, where would you place yourself, what would you see, hear, feel etc.?
Which part(s) of the image would you like to explore next, what would you like to do in this scene?
If you were to have conversation with the sower, what would you ask? Imaging what he might have to say to you?
What is it about your life or about God that you can see more easily thanks to this image?

As you pray with the image take time to pause and share you thoughts, feelings, questions and concerns with God

Praying with Art

This a short praying with art experience. The idea can be adapted to almost any piece of art. A few guiding questions is all that's needed to get started.