Spiritual Practices: Visio Divina
Visio Divina, or sacred seeing, is a type of prayer in which we allow our hearts and imaginations to enter into an image or a scene in silence to see what God might have to say to us. You can find out more about Visio Divina here. Spend some time prayerfully reflecting on the images below and listen to what God might say to you through them.
Visio Divina, or sacred seeing, is a type of prayer in which we allow our hearts and imaginations to enter into an image or a scene in silence to see what God might have to say to us. You can find out more about Visio Divina here. Spend some time prayerfully reflecting on the images below and listen to what God might say to you through them.
Crossing the Red Sea
Kotarbiński, Wilhelm, 1848-1921. Crossing the Red Sea, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57377 [retrieved September 17, 2023]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KotarbinskiyV_PerehEvreRYB.jpg.
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The women wept and I wept. I too cried for the lost people, their ancestors and mine. But I was also weeping with a curious joy. Despite the murders, rapes and suicides, we had survived. The middle passage and the auction block had not erased us. Not humiliations nor lynchings, individual cruelties nor collective oppression had been able to eradicate us from the earth. We had come through despite our own ignorance and gullibility, and the ignorance and rapacious greed of our assailants.
There was much to cry for, much to mourn, but in my heart I felt exalted knowing there was much to celebrate. Although separated from our language, our families and customs, we had dared to continue to live. We had crossed the unknowable oceans in chains and had written its mystery into “Deep River, my home is over Jordan.” Through the centuries of despair and dislocation, we had been creative, because we faced down death by daring to hope.
Maya Angelou
There was much to cry for, much to mourn, but in my heart I felt exalted knowing there was much to celebrate. Although separated from our language, our families and customs, we had dared to continue to live. We had crossed the unknowable oceans in chains and had written its mystery into “Deep River, my home is over Jordan.” Through the centuries of despair and dislocation, we had been creative, because we faced down death by daring to hope.
Maya Angelou
Imaging the Word An Arts and Lectionary Resource, Volume 3
Spiritual Practices: Keyword Listing
Keyword listing is a method of observational Bible study. It doesn’t require any special skills, tools, or training. You can read more about the process of keyword listing here. You can choose any word or short phrase to study using keyword listing. For this passage, we suggest the following keyword(s) to start your study.
Starting Points
Keyword listing is a method of observational Bible study. It doesn’t require any special skills, tools, or training. You can read more about the process of keyword listing here. You can choose any word or short phrase to study using keyword listing. For this passage, we suggest the following keyword(s) to start your study.
Starting Points
- God / Lord (and related pronouns) - explore how God delivers the Israelites from the Egyptians
- Moses (and related pronouns) - explore what Moses does as God delivers Israel
- Egyptians (and related pronouns) - explore what happens to the Egyptians