So I will pick up my brush
and dip into the prism of color
brushstroke by brushstroke,
bristle by bristle
liberating humanity
from the flat figure 
caught in heavy lines
on a wooden board.

Peering into the eyes 
of this humble saint 
I find myself praying…
and sighing…
and fussing… 
and wondering…
what following Christ means
when the way seems opaque?

But – 

Is it really unclear?
Is it not marked
like the dark lines 
of this image?
Sketched in 
love, hope, compassion,
and reaching always beyond
the confines of myself?

Who is the artist
who wields brush and palette
moment by moment,
with grace-filled, energetic imagination,
freeing me from 
harsh lines – 
making a new, whole creation,
a three-dimensional saint?



Reflection and Notes:
I’ve been finding inspiration and hope in reflecting on our call to discipleship these past few weeks. It began with re-reading my ordination vows and summarizing them in my own words: “We are all called to pursue the things of God with faith and perseverance, to tend those around us with love and care, and to bear witness in word and deed, taking courage and knowing our labor is not in vain.”

This reflection on our calling has continued as we’ve celebrated All Saints Sunday (November 1) and I’ve listened to the texts this week, pondering what the future may hold for us here in the United States.

One of the texts for this week is Micah 6:8:

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?”

With these words in mind, I’ve also been enjoying working on an icon of Br. Roger (Frère Roger) of Taizé. As I paint, I’ve been meditating on his ministry’s humble beginnings caring for refugees during and after World War II. Slowly painting his kind and wrinkled face, I imagined all of the moment by moment, faith-filled decisions that this man made in living into his calling, day after day. A single painting can be comprised of hundreds of single brushstrokes; a life of faith is built of simple choices made each day to follow Christ.

Borrowing some phrasing from Hebrews 9:28, how do we work for Christ’s kingdom while we eagerly wait for him? Our calling is always to follow Christ into God’s way of love, compassion, faith, bridge-building, care and justice for the least of these and the marginalized/vulnerable. And we have job security because that work never stops no matter what is happening in the world around us.

Rather than dividing people into saints and sinners based on obedience, righteousness, or piety, Martin Luther declared that Christians were always simultaneously sinners and saints. Saints were merely forgiven sinners walking in – and being made new daily – in the light of God’s grace. Saints are disciples – students – waking up each day to learn from and grow in Christ through the guiding of the Holy Spirit. That, too, is at the heart of our calling.

“So I will pick up my brush…” Those words are a hope and a prayer: that day by day I will follow Christ in a way of beauty and color, love and generosity, kindness and compassion, patience and sacrifice. And in the process, I pray I may not only glimpse God’s presence in myself, but in the sinner/saints all around.

© Annabelle P. Markey