Sixth Day

The Amistad, Three Painted Panels (1938)

By Hale Woodruff

Oil on canvas

Amos 7.4-6

4 This is what the Sovereign YHWH showed me:

The Sovereign YHWH summoned fire to punish.

It had devoured the great Deep

and was already encroaching on the pastures.

5 Then I said, "Please stop, O God, I beg you!

How can Jacob survive, being so small?"

6 And YHWH relented.

"This will not happen either," said YHWH.

“Fear”

by J. Ruth Gendler (b. 1955)

from The Book of Qualities (HarperCollins, 1984)

Fear has a large shadow, but he himself is quite small. He has a vivid imagination. He composes horror music in the middle of the night. He is not very social, and he keeps to himself at political meetings. His past is a mystery. He warned us not to talk to each other about him, adding that there is nowhere any of us could go where he wouldn't hear us. We were quiet. When we began to talk to each other, he changed. His manners started to seem pompous, and his snarling voice sounded rehearsed.

Two dragons guard Fear's mansion. One is ceramic and Chinese. The other is real. If you make it past the dragons and speak to him close up, it is amazing to see how fragile he is. He will try to tell you stories. Be aware. He is a master of disguises and illusions. Fear almost convinced me that he was a puppet-maker and I was a marionette.

Speak out boldly, look him in the eye, startle him. don't give up. Win his respect, and he will never bother you with small matters.

Today’s Art Practice

What You’ll Need

From Your Home:

• A pen or pencil for writing.

From Your Envelope:

• Sheet of lined paper

Directions: In today's poem, J. Ruth Gendler has given a personality to the feeling of Fear. Try writing your own poem or short piece of prose in which you personify a feeling.

Start by taking 5 minutes to meditate and notice how you are feeling in this moment.

What is your feeling, and what is your feeling's personality?

Write about that in what ever way feels correct.

This playlist can help you keep track of time. Once it is stops playing, 20 minutes will be over at that point you can choose to continue wandering or move on to something new.

Let’s Pray…

James 2 Prayer

from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers

Holy Lord, maker of us all,

you call us to love our neighbors as ourselves

and teach us that faith without works is dead.

Open us to the opportunities for ministry that lie before us,

where faith and words and the need of our neighbor

come together in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.