Lent 03.19.24
In this mandala, I wanted to follow a person through the process of reproval, forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration as Jesus describes in Matthew 18. When I was drawing the figures from the center out, it began to look like a dance. Is this the picture that grace paints? Forgiveness cannot happen in isolation and certainly neither can reconciliation nor restoration. The movement toward wholeness is the movement toward one another.
Perhaps craving more tangibility and practicality, Peter asks how many times he should forgive someone who has wronged him, and Jesus says, “Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). This piece contains seventy-seven people and flowers to represent the abundance of grace that Jesus calls us into. The gold represents the divine presence of empathy, compassion, grace, and love throughout this dance from isolation toward community, from brokenness toward wholeness, and from guilt and shame toward freedom.
—from the artist's statement for "Seventy-seven times" by Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman | @sanctifiedart
WEEKLY CENTERING PRACTICE Center yourself through journaling. Spend a few minutes writing about the joys and concerns on your heart.
DAILY QUESTION Who in your life needs forgiveness?
PRAYER Forgiving God, you tell Peter to forgive seventy-times-seven (Mt. 18:15-22). I want to follow your instructions, but forgiveness has never felt that easy. How do I forgive when the hurt still lingers? How do I put mercy into my words? You want grace for this world. Show me how to follow in your footsteps. Show me how to forgive. Amen.
