This month we are looking at the spiritual practice of art!

Art describes the vast array of mediums used to create something from imagination, emotions, and spirit.  This may connect with others in a profound and engaging way or for the purpose of creation. The arts are an incredible opportunity to express ourselves, let go of stress, and create something for the world.


Art awakens us to our spirit to find our inner voice. It is a language that has given expression to God's work in the world through time and the personal spiritual journey's people have walked. It gives insight into the struggles and happiness people have lived. Art can touch the divine in each of us and give space for God to sit and be present.  

Let's explore some of the ways art can impact us and how we can use art in our lives.

Using art can be an instrumental method in helping us connect to our inner selfs. It can enlighten us into who we are and what we believe. Art can be a meditation helping us find what we are searching for by using our creative senses. This method can calm, relax, and refocus us on what we are to be about in this world. Our spiritual life is only enhanced when we find a spiritual practice that fits us. For some art is the vehicle which can help them spiritually grow on their faith journey.  ​


Ways Art Can Impact Us


1. Gives Hope - Art is inspirational to others and provides hope. We all have struggles and times of difficulty. Art allows us to sit in those struggles and see the hope that lies in creation. Hope emerges through our canvas to bring inspiration to others and ourself. 

 ​2. Tells Our Story - Art is a way to communicate our story. This entails our current feelings, emotions, spiritual journey, and perspective. Sometimes it is difficult to use words to express our journey's. Art gives people opportunities to find their visual voices. Voices that speak beyond words into the emotions they feel.  


​3. Art Heals - Painting, drawing, sculpting, etc. give physical ways for people to express themselves and let go of their emotions. It allows new insights and perspectives to sink in. Healing takes shape and gives light to hope. Art allows us to restructure our pain into something powerful. It starts with a stroke and transforms into something beautiful.

4. Connects Experiences - What we see in art connects us to our own experiences. Memories flow through our minds, emotions relive, and for just a moment we are connected to the person who created it. Ultimately we are separate individuals but art engages us in that shared experience.  
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​5. Invitation into Community - Engaging in activity is instrumental for community and our own health. Art is a common interest that people can share together by doing which not only enhances their friendships but also their own personal happiness. This participation is an invitation into community.  An invitation to have others travel with you on your journey.  ​

Incorporating Art Into Our Life

For those of us who do not use art on a regular basis the question is how do we use this as a spiritual practice.  Here are some ideas:

Draw What You See - Look at something around you. I mean really look. Try to see the spirit in it and attempt to capture the essence of it in your art. It challenges you to look underneath the surface for meaning. How will you express what you see?  What symbolizes the spirit captured in the moment?

Awaken Your Creative Force - Creating something is powerful and starts us on a journey of awakening something inside of us. The act of creation is inspiring and allows our inner self to be outwardly expressed. There is no agenda, no plan, just creating what comes without judgement. ​

Art Blogs - Follow a few art blogs to learn skills and become inspired by new creative ideas. Exposure to art gives us permission to become artistic ourselves.  Here is a list of the 14 top art blogs.  

Carry Materials - Art can happen anywhere! Intentionally carrying a sketch book or other materials with you provides opportunities for us to engage in the practice. When you are inspired stop and be creative. This practice can allow people to live in the moment and make art a more center piece of their spiritual life. It also provides opportunities for connection with people to happen.  

Be creative as you spiritually practice using art in your life.  

Thank you to all those following along! Please comment on the blog if you like it by saying "This is awesome", "Thanks for sharing" or any other thoughts you want to express.  

This week practice using art in someway to enhance your life.  

Last week at Dialogue and Dessert each participant was asked to rip off the amount of toilet paper they use when they go to the bathroom. After the paper was passed around individuals had to count the number of squares. The number ripped off was the amount of facts they had to share about themselves. For time purposes we capped each person's at ten. 

The group participants openly shared about who they were and the stories that shaped their life. Each one shared well over their amount but it didn't matter because the group was engaged in learning about the person and hearing their story. 


One man shared about going off to war after getting married. While fighting on the front lines he received a Dear John letter. He described the pain he felt and how hard it was for him to endure. But his face brightened as he said "but that opened the door for me to meet my wife, whom I have shared forty plus happy years with." He blessed us with the knowledge that sometimes the bad that life brings is only the vessel for something greater if we allow it. 

In these moments of listening to one another we were all touched and impacted. We had connected part of ourselves to the group. Sharing with others broadens peoples perspectives and helps them understand our viewpoint. It starts with thinking its "them" and "me" but suddenly moves our thoughts to "us." Connection makes us realize we are in this together. Our original perception and thoughts twist into something more real, genuine, and accurate. It is through these connections that life takes us into new seas and boundaries that we never would have expected.  


Let's look closer at how connecting with others impacts our lives! 

What's Behind Human Connections

Whether we are standing in line at Starbucks, sitting next to someone on a plane, or walking in our neighborhood there are always moments we can connect with others. It's a choice to engage in someone else's life. We need social connections! Research out of Stanford Medicine by Dr. Emma Seppala indicates social connections improve our physical, mental and emotional well beings. They go as far as saying "Lack of social connection is a greater detriment to health than obesity, smoking, or high blood pressure."  The info graphic below is an awesome visual from Dr. Seppala about it. 

What I find amazing about this research is that its really about our own subjective perception about the relationships we have. In other words how deep, genuine, and rich are those relationships. I find this is what we are called to do our faith journey's. 

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Executive Coach Dan Foxx provides another interesting perspective on connection in his TEDx talk. He discussed the importance of removing our own ego's by giving ourselves to the connecting moment. 

Connecting On Your Faith Journey


The spiritual connections we make on our faith journey's are of the utmost importance. When I share with others vulnerably or openly sit in the presence of the divine with others our connections deepen. Whether they actually do or not my subjective perspective believes this which is my reality. Faith is always about going deeper and becoming more authentic. When we walk our faith journey's alone we miss the opportunity to connect. 

Jesus connected with others! The scripture focus of our discussion the other night was from Luke 7:11-17 when Jesus came across the burial of a widow's son. Jesus immediately had compassion and was moved to action. He noticed and allowed himself to be connected which ultimately changed the circumstances in the story.


We are called just like Jesus to notice others and connect with them. Through that connection we can allow ourselves to miraculously love. For love changes the circumstances of the moment and calls us to rise forward into new life. ​


​What will that new life be for you? Who will be changed by your decision to connect? 

I really appreciate all those following along! Like us on Facebook! 

Go out and connect with someone new this week! 

Our guest blogger this week is Elder James O’ Neil DeAtley who is a native of West Union, OH. An alumnus of Morehead State University, “Neil” obtained a BA in 2013. Upon graduation, Neil began his teaching career where he taught 7-12 vocal and general music. In 2018, responding to God’s call, Neil began full-time studies at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, pursuing a Master of Divinity. Neil has served as a summer guide and museum intern at the Kirtland and Independence Temples. Currently, Neil resides in Washington DC and is the full-time invitation support minister for Community of Christ in the Chesapeake Bay Mission Center.

The legendary and fabled biblical character of Moses could hardly be deemed as ordinary. Attributed with the authorship of the Torah, Moses is an iconic name in the story of Israel's escape from slavery in Egypt and the later transcendent reception of Ancient Israelite Law. The name Moses represents one who was a great teacher, leader, and liberator. Having fled Egypt in exile, the scriptures record that Moses took a wife, Zipporah, and started a family in Midian.


By all accounts, it would seem that Moses had settled into an ordinary life for a man of his time and place. It is during this phase of Moses’ life that we encounter him in Exodus 3 while he is tending to his father-in-law’s sheep. Going about his daily business, Moses was not seeking a miracle, and yet the Hebrew author documents that it was there that “the angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush.” What happened next is perhaps the most simple and important part of the narrative, “he looked.” ​

Is it possible that Moses could have walked past that bush many times before while shepherding the flock? Perhaps. Yet, in that moment something was different; Moses saw with new eyes. God saw that Moses had stopped to look and God called him by name. This prompted God’s divine invitation to Moses for an awakened life. The ordinary had been transformed by God, and in amazement of the presence, Moses removed his sandals. Amidst everyday responsibilities, the Holy One of Israel called Moses by name and he discerned God’s life changing plan for him. ​

​This sacred encounter prompted a new life for Moses. A life full of adventure, imagination, and at times, obscurity and risk. In the busyness and monotony of daily life, do you take time to contemplate where is God calling you by name? Where is God longing to draw near to you? What is God inviting you to risk? In the face of a loved one or a stranger, in your commute to work, in your day-to-day duties, where is God longing to transform your ordinary to extraordinary?


​As it was for Moses, this life changing adventure is yours for the taking. Will you expeditiously rise up and follow? Will you be full of trepidation and doubt? Or will you live in the nuance of both/and?

Growing up I would hear stories of how my mom's family would sit in the upper auditorium behind the stage every two years at World Conference waiting to hear where my grandfather was assigned. The minister and families did not know until announced on if they would be uprooted out of their current lives or be able to stay in their current fields.

I think back on this story and amazed at the ministers for being willing to risk everything in what they believed.  However I am also somewhat ashamed for how the church treated their ministers and families. Luckily the church has understood that its really about our own personal callings and changed those practices to be more inclusive of the ministers life convictions. Lets look briefly at faith and how it impacts our lives.  ​

Our Understanding of Faith

Faith is the complete trust or confidence in something or someone. Trust is the word that stands out to me. Relying on something outside ourselves.  To push away our own thoughts and fears and walk in the unknown of our futures. Everyday we walk not knowing what will happen and yet we trick ourselves into believing we are in control. We try hard to keep everything in a box just how we want it and yet over and over again life happens. Giving away that control allows us to walk in faith and open ourselves up to divine inspiration.  

And yet I do not believe we have to blindly step forward. God wants us to be well informed and feel the calling in our lives. Preparation by researching, planning, and collaborating are essential steps in bringing forth something positive to society. When we think about faith this way it is understanding that God made us with gifts to be used in various ways. We are a part of understanding how those gifts will impact the world. It's not some giant already perceived plan but a continual moving forward with divine inspiration in creating something special. We are creating with God and moving out with the notion that God is with us and always has been.

Go out there and risk something new this week! 

The last Monday of each month we focus on a spiritual practice. This month is the eloquent and divine human movement we call dance.  

Who doesn't love a dance party! I have some great memories in which my family and I danced together humorously in our kitchen. It was carefree, fun, and created much laughter and smiles. It got us creatively moving to the music creating space for connection, which surpassed words and moved straight to our hearts.  ​​

Dance has the ability enliven our body and souls, break down barriers, and free our bodies of worry if we let. The multi-sensory and emotional way it moves through our body creates moods and communication patterns. Its both an inward and outward experience connecting our mind and body together. I find it funny that this practice physically and emotionally changes us and yet there is often very little of it happening in church. Maybe its the stiff dress clothes, tradition of being proper, or just the thought that others would judge us. 


None of them seem like good reasons in my opinion for us not to engage in something that can connect us with the divine.  


So how can we use dance as a spiritual practice? In what ways can we incorporate dance in our religious and spiritual settings?  
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"The ancient Greeks believed that man took delight in active movement. A person was considered educated if he could dance, and his moral code was defined by the dances he performed. Men and women in Greek society danced, though what they performed might not be considered dance today. It was an ordered form, integrated with music and poetry as part of rituals, religion, and social life (Human Kinetics)."


During the renaissance dances moved into forms of entertainment and display. It also had a major place in the social aspect of society. During this time dances were written down in detailed forms separated by categories.  This time period had an explosion of art in the form of dance. ​​Dance has continued to evolve into various other dances such as the floss as we have below.  

Dance And Our Spiritual Life

Dancing is moving spirituality! It puts our emotions and feelings out for everyone to see. Sometimes you are even surprised at what comes when you allow your body to move.  Dance is freeing and allows us to go directly to God with both mind and body.  So how do we use it as a spiritual practice? How do we use it in our current settings?  First check out the music video "God's Great Dance Floor" by Chris Tomlin.  

5. Find Time - Give yourself time each week to dance. This can be at home, out somewhere, or even in church. Dance can happen anywhere as its just allowing your body to react to the moments in your life. For churches they can  intentionally schedule dance ministry or times in the service for dance to happen. Be creative!


So get out there and dance! 

Thank you for all the kind words and support!  

Take some time and dance this week by yourself or with someone else!