Today, Abby and I went back to Central UMC in Stockton to lead workshops on art and poetry writing. After attending the 11:00 a.m. service with the congregation, we had a quick lunch prepared by one of the church ladies and then started talking about art and poetry. Abby started us off by asking us to describe our holy spaces. We then used various color tools to draw, sketch, etch, and basically color-convey our responses to her reading of the Matthew 16 passage about taking up our cross and following Jesus. For the first reading, we were asked to first use only colors (no shapes) as an expression of our response. Then, after the 2nd reading, we were asked to use lines and shapes to respond. After the third reading, we were to respond with specific images. After each section, we shared with one another what we had created, paying attention to acknowledging the beauty and meaning behind each of our creations.
In the poetry writing portion, we listened to the images in several poems and used our five senses to visualize our sacred spaces. We then used words we had written down to craft haiku. Without a lot of time remaining, we shared our haiku and thought about how effectively we used words -- language -- to express what we feel/sense/know/think about our holy spaces (which we talked about at the beginning of the art portion). I was amazed at the variety of haiku that we wrote, each with its own uniqueness.
Even though we had a few changes to our original plans, the overall experience was moving, transformative, and creative. I learned a great deal from these individuals about their lives, their passions, and their faiths. I hope they were able to bring away at least something meaningful from this experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment