Daily Nourishment for July 18, 2024: Living into Our Prayers with Art, Words, and Guidance from Lanecia A. Rouse
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 45 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 15 minutes
“I can’t imagine going through what I went through without knowing love was real.” - Lanecia A. Rouse
Pause.
Take deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale while looking at this art by Lanecia A Rouse. (Make sure you look through all of the images.)
Prompt.
After experiencing devastating loss, Lanecia A. Rouse left the ministry and became a full-time visual artist. She shared a portion of her story in an Image podcast episode. Here’s an excerpt:
“I began to wail out to God. And it was the kind of like David Psalms kind of wailing, truthful cussing. I was so angry and in pain and I said some things, and part of my crying out was: I'm going to need love to show up, and I'm going to need it to show up in real tangible, I can see, feel, embodied ways. Right? And I will keep my eyes open and I will look for it, but I needed to show up.
And so, in requesting that, I also knew that prayer required me living into that prayer, as well. And so I began to look for love. In the first place I was like, okay, how am I going to love myself as I live into this new normal?
And part of that loving was to imagine—reimagine—what life could look like. A life where I was not just surviving from day to day, but really thriving.
And so in the midst of naming these things, I wrote, ‘I am an artist. That's when I am.’ So what do I need to do to be that? So I was like, I want to get a studio downtown. I want to make art. I want to create things with my hands. My body can create. And it was almost like a form of resistance as much as it was an acknowledgement of who I am and what I needed to do.
So I started naming it, and my sister had written this poem called “Do the Crazy Thing.” And it was written way before this happened. But during that season, her words and that poem just kept coming back to me. I was like, what is my crazy thing? And it was that. To leave ministry, eventually, and to become a full-time visual artist, which I would never have imagined I would be doing”
Practice.
Set a timer for 10 minutes and respond to the art and words above and/or the questions below.
How does knowing you are loved help you navigate difficult circumstances?
How does knowing you are loved help you make your art?
Which Psalms and poems and songs help you cry out to God in honest ways?
If you are a writer or an artist, what does that mean for your daily life and rhythms? What actionable steps do you want to take to live into that identity? How do you honor that identity?
Want More?
Listen to the entire podcast episode here.
Return to the July 7 Daily Nourishment with Lanecia A Rouse.
Lanecia A. Rouse will lead a visual art workshop at this year’s Glen Workshop. During the month of July, Spiritual Direction for Writers® Daily Nourishment will feature Glen Workshop facilitators and other Glen-ish people, places, and things. Enjoy!
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Upcoming Workshops & Gatherings
—The July Co-Writing Schedule is live.
—July 13-18: $11 Summer Book Sale (Today is the last day!)
—July 21-27: Charlotte Donlon will provide a few spiritual direction offerings at the Glen Workshop in Seattle
—July 27: Online Revision Stations Designed by Lauren F. Winner
—Save the Date: Spiritual Direction for Writers® + Enneagram for Creativity Gathering will take place on Saturday, September 28th. Recordings will be available if you can’t join us live. Speakers will be announced soon!
Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
*Please help us protect our intellectual property, our creative process, and the integrity of our work. Spiritual Direction for Writers® Daily Nourishment is covered under the Spiritual Direction for Writers® trademark. You are welcome to share this link with others, but any other use (written or spoken) is prohibited without written permission from Charlotte Donlon.