As We Enter a New Year, What's Your Perspective?

This past Tuesday, I led an online Bible Study for women serving globally.

Birthed out of an opportunity that arose during our pandemic "shift" in ministry, this early morning time grew to host what became a close knit community of gals.

I look forward to the input, the discussions, the sharing of lives that come with such a community - 

Because we all have similarities of living overseas in our backgrounds, there is safety that grew quickly and intimately.

So, Tuesday, I led a Visio Divina exercise, asking the question: As we look at La Pieta, sculpted by Michelangelo in 1498, and read the Scriptures on Mary, the Mother of Jesus, that come out of Luke 1-2, what can we learn from Mary as she holds her "baby" boy (after all, as mom's, our babies are our babies all of their lives, right?)...

But, I asked my group of gals to also identify what "posture" (meaning attitude with which they will approach a new season of life) they see in Mary that they might adopt for 2023?

We each took about 20 minutes of solitude to focus on the sculpture, to look deeply at the specific Scriptures in the two chapters regarding Mary, and jot down what we felt the Lord was speaking to us.

As we meditated, we each asked specific questions that are standard for Visio Divina (Diving Seeing) - link provided here. 

At the close of the 20-minutes, we stopped and shared what we had received thus far from the Lord.

We bounced around a wide variety of thoughts and processing...

While I didn't have any real expectations for how I hoped the morning would play out, I think I did desire that each individual would receive some particular focus from the Lord as they transition into this New Year.

However, come the close of the morning, while I loved our discussion, I left the Zoom meeting feeling "empty." 

Upon more consideration, I recognized we didn't close well, or wrap things up with a nicely wrapped package with a beautiful bow on top (my personal desire for teaching times).

Good thing we have next week to do just this... ☝

So after a nice long walk along a very cold river-walk-path downtown, I wrestled through what I could glean from the morning. 

Hopefully, this will be a simple illustration for your quiet pondering as we still are settling into our new season of a new year. 

La Pieta (which I hope to see in person when I speak in Rome this coming February) speaks to the process of grief/loss/transitions. It speaks to where we are in the experience right at this moment... It speaks to perspective.

There is movement in the Sculpture - as we look, we examine Mary's face first...then our eyes travel in the direction of her eyes to the body of her son just removed from the cross and placed in her lap... From there, we follow the movement of Jesus' body, to Mary's open left hand. 

What each of us saw as we dialogued were different aspects of the sculpture: some saw a posture of resignation, some saw hope, others saw an act of surrender, whereas others saw the sculpture as a mother in the midst of lament and sorrow...and, I...I saw a metaphor. I saw: The mother of the Savior of the World, holding the body of her son - the Lamb of God, come to take a way the sins of the world... I saw the body of Jesus as the gospel story...and, Mary's open hand as her welcoming willingness to take that story into the "what next" of her life. I saw a "posture of purpose." 

This is the illustration I expectantly, and hopefully, want you to see. We're all on a different time line of processing 2022. Some of us are grieving losses. Some are in the midst of transitions. Some have lamented and moved forward and are ready to turn all that life taught us into the "what next." 

Where are you in the journey of saying good-bye to the past, lamenting what's gone...accepting with openness what is true about the present...and, looking at tomorrow with fresh eyes of purpose and hope? 

Wherever you are...don't get stuck or lost in the middle of the mess. 

Take the necessary steps to move forward. 

Not sure what those are? 

Let's talk about that next week....