In Winter Quiet
A time of contemplation for the start of Advent.
In honor of Advent’s first Sunday, I wanted to share a musing of mine that was published with The Clayjar Review last December. In it, I contemplate stillness and communion with the Divine (all while observing some lovely textiles as rendered by Albert Bouts). Enjoy a few excerpts below and read the whole piece here.
“No matter how much I reminded myself that I was physically and emotionally safe, my body responded to old patterns and I felt it moving beyond me, at its own pace. …
Quiet can be found in an absence of sound, or, I believe, in a kind of focus that takes an eye off the self and places it firmly on something beautiful. My responsive body was immediately taken by the jewel tones of Albert Bouts’ The Annunciation. The deep blue/green of Mary’s garment as she stands reading is dazzling to my modern eyes. …
The revelation that the Savior of the universe is resting in Mary’s quiet womb comes on the threshold of a moment of contemplative quiet in the home. I stood in the empty gallery and found a calm I hadn’t been expecting. A woman alone in conversation with God is open to receiving life changing news, or even merely a shift in perspective. Open to receiving calm to a frazzled nervous system through the quiet of a gallery.”