Rescued!

“Create something that will depict your resurrection when you finally embrace your cross.” That was the reflection activity Mike Viñas asked us to do for this morning’s Holy Week Retreat of the Light of Jesus Family. When he added, “You can draw, paint, watercolor…” I immediately thought of what I was really planning to do after the retreat – make a watercolor painting of sunflowers for my kitchen to accent its yellow theme.

Last night, I had already rummaged through my arts supplies drawer to look for watercolor pencils, brushes and watercolor paper to recycle (in a lockdown, you make do with what you have). They  were ready on my bedside table. But, how do I connect sunflowers to the resurrection? I decided to Google “rescued sunflowers”. It’s a stretch, but who knows what I might find. Surprise, surprise! There was a video on a rescued sunflower. A garden enthusiast showed how she rescued the seeds of her dried-up sunflower from being eaten by ants. That’s the inspiration I was looking for. I decided to create two paintings – one that will depict sunflowers in their dying stage that yielded seeds and another of bright and happy sunflowers in full bloom that “resurrected” from those seeds. I’m almost done with the first painting. I hope to finish the other one tomorrow.

Disclaimer: I paint like a person who likes to sing, knows the lyrics but doesn’t quite know the tune, so don’t expect a Van Gogh.

Reflection: Accept your cross and the reality that there are things you can’t control much like the cycle a sunflower goes through. Trust that the Divine Gardener is always there to nurture you and, in due season, will make the seeds  within you resurrect into a beautiful blossom.