Happy new year, happy new decade! The symmetry of “2020” seems to be inspiring many people in my circles. I think many of us in the USA are also hopeful—& trepidatious—about the possibilities of changing directions as a nation, culture, & society via national elections & all the conversations that surround them.
It will be a year of personal transitions for me: I hope to sell my home & move in early spring—staying in my current neighborhood but downsizing. Later I expect to make some changes in my work life, moving toward more time for writing & art. There are some travel dreams too, but I’m aiming to “be like Greta”—avoiding carbon-heavy air travel whenever possible—which will involve living in a different rhythm.
Picturing God continues to get warm reviews, which you can read over here. I am treasuring a little mental list of words/phrases from them: “dazzling,” “highly inventive,” “intriguing,” “incredible,” & the one that makes me catch my breath, “sacramental and mystical.” And of course I’m working on new projects, dreaming of new, funky ways to illustrate, & ordering new art supplies (can’t wait to meet you, chalk pastel pencils!).
“When we journey into places / that are slippery and scary, / our Shepherd stays close / and never lets us go.”
An ongoing task that began in the fall has been mounting the original Picturing God art pieces as gifts for family members & dear friends/collaborators. Sometimes I tweak them, as here, to fill in spaces I’d left open for text, or to make edges less ragged.
Lately I have often felt like this lamb in the Shepherd’s arms. I’m in my seventh decade of life, but sometimes being an adult is still overwhelming! I’m grateful for the Love that lets me be a resting child, that calls me ever so gently into my real self, that holds me close in every storm.
Ruth Goring 