WALKING ON WATER
After the 3/11/11 Tohoku Tsunami and Earthquake, the "Walking on Water" art series began as a prayer and to ask "how do we walk on water?" Makoto Fujimura desired the painting to both be a lament and life-giving image for all.
There are seasons in our soul that we cry out like blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10… “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” There are unexpected tsunamis in our lives like a turn in a relationship that was good and all of a sudden there’s tension. A job that was secure that is now in jeopardy. A friend or family member suddenly getting sick. Or even just an argument with someone we love that leaves us feeling overwhelmed and fearful.
What could it look like in this season, whatever you might be overwhelmed by, to cry out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
This painting by my favorite artist, Makoto Fujimura. This painting is meant to spark our imagination for how we can journey with God in seasons where we’re experiencing blessings and battles.
As we enter into this new springtime, we find that our lives are rooted in creational rhythms. We have been created for rhythms in our daily life. As Eugene Peterson writes in his devotional on Genesis he says…
“We were created to live rhythmically in the rhythms of Creation. Seven days repeated in a sequence of four weeks places us in the rhythm of the twenty-eight-day phases of the moon circling the Earth. This lunar rhythm is repeated twelve times in the annual sweep of the Earth and moon around the sun. These large, encompassing rhythms call forth regularities of spring births, summer growth, autumn harvest, and winter sleep. In Creation we are immersed in rhythms.”
Examine and curiously speak with friends about your rhythms this month. Where do you feel led to cry out in gratitude and where do you feel like you need to cry out in asking for God’s mercy? What new rhythms might God be inviting you into this spring?
As Jesus walked on water amidst the storm, he’s inviting you to keep your eyes on him and keep crying out to him.