Painting as Meditation by Judy Allen
A meditation on the deep pattern of our lives, the spiral that transforms chaos, here and now, at the turning of the year.
A sermon for Samhain, for Halloween, for All Hallows and All Souls. Offered at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spartanburg on October 29, 2017.
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At the conclusion of the service where this reflection was offered, a mathematician handed me the following note:
“Mathematically, chaos & cyclical motion of an orbit differ in only the slightest change of an input.
“The discipline is topological dynamics–
“A product is the beauty of the fractal.”
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The sermon may be heard here:
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From the sermon:
“This is the power of turning to face our life,
turning to consider with attention and care
our fears & doubts & joys, all of who we are
so that we do not ignore them
and are not controlled by them,
but so we turn with them
in a spiral,
entering with them
into the pattern of the year, the pattern of time and history,
turning in the spiral of our lives
consciously, wisely, realistically, generously,
to embrace life,
to embrace our life,
to embrace the lives of one another…
with the spiral of our lives
turning the darkness of an oppressive world
into a deeper pattern,
where fear can let go
into the stronger pattern of love
and remake the world
for ourselves and many, many more.
It is such generous, powerful work
to turn this way.”
Image: Painting meditation by Judy Allen, UUCS member, at “no words” gathering of Speaking Down Barriers.
Life is a labyrinth! How did this painting get here? It took me this long to get into the depths of your site. I’ve been looking, reading and listening. Thanks for sharing your many gifts.