Has it really been so long since I wrote to you last? I had some health and home issues that apparently sapped me of some of my creative energy – more than I realized. It is disappointing to find myself without inspiration and energy. Just enough to keep me going but not more. I was trying to get a video about the art and faith retreat done as well as finish a painting I had been working on since December.

I was talking with my spiritual last week, sharing with her where I was at and about the past month. I could feel the weight of everything. My spiritual director asked me to take a minute and just listen to what God said about it all. And I heard “grace;” to give myself grace. Life happens – it was stressful, even if it wasn’t huge.

We had our Enneagram class on Thursday night. One of the types we were covering that evening was the “3,” which is my type. I shared a lot, including where I go in stress. There is a high side and a low side to the type where I go under stress. The low side (in a nutshell) is that I can feel a failure and just give up, quit. The high side is to rest, take care of myself, and for me, it is also to spend time with God, resting.

Two mornings later, as I was thinking it all through again, it clicked for me. I needed to give myself grace. I had been taking care of myself and resting, leaning into God. I hadn’t given up. It took much longer than I wanted, to get the things done. The video is below. The painting I am working on is still a work in progress. I can give myself grace. God loves me for who I am not what I accomplish.

This reminds me of the story of Elijah I read this month. (1 Kings 17-19) Here is a prophet who walks closely with God. For seven years of drought, God is providing for his needs. With God, he confronts and battles the 400 false prophets of Baal in an altar competition with God providing the consuming fire on a drenched offering. But when he is threatened with death by Jezebel, he runs away in fear and discouragement to Mount Horeb to talk to God. And God gives him grace and rest. God informs him that he is not the only one left who follows God. God has more work for him but provides him with an assistant that he will eventually pass on the work to.

Abiding in God, in Jesus, isn’t always going to go as we wish it to. It can be hard. We can feel discouragement and fear. I do not always handle it well. I am thankful that I did this time. Are you like me? Do you need to give yourself grace and space?
How do you respond to the feelings? Where do you go under stress?

Do you need to take a rest, give yourself grace? Consider a retreat to refresh your soul...

Julie asked me to write something for her website about the Enneagram as we are preparing for another Introduction to the Enneagram course in Edmonton in February. And I have decided to share a little about taking care of myself.

Luke writes in Chapter 10:38-42
38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

“Martha was distracted by her many tasks...Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things...” These words describe what I experience and feel much of the time. This fall I am involved in fewer activities than I have been in a long time, our children require less from us than they have in 27 years, I’m not doing any preaching, teaching, or leading at church and I still often feel as burdened as ever by the tasks I need to do. And, like Martha, I can easily resent others who don’t come to my aid, like Mary, or who don’t recognize and praise my hard work, like Jesus.

I suspect that this wasn’t just something Martha did when Jesus came over. Filling her life with tasks and getting things done was likely a strategy that had given her significant success in life. It is often said that 20% of the people get 80% of the work done, and she was certainly one of those 20%, and it probably paid off for her. That’s my experience. I’m a busy person, I like to help people, to get things done, to work hard, and to take on new and challenging tasks. And, to a large extent, people admire and appreciate it.

But, as Jesus makes clear, there are also some downsides to so much focus on tasks and doing -- helping so much, serving so much, or whatever particular form it takes in our lives. We can be so focused on getting our tasks done that we miss Jesus, or our spouse, or children, or the friend at work who needs someone to listen, or even ourselves and our own needs.

And we can read the story of Mary and Martha, we can hear sermons preached on it, we can make declarations to change, we can take classes and read books on it, we can even put slowing down on our task list, and try our best to do it. Certainly, these ideas have worked for some, but for many, like myself, they have never led to long term, permanent change. It’s as if there is more that is needed than simply changing what I know or what I do, and that’s where what I am learning from the Enneagram is helping me.

In the Enneagram Personality Styles I tend to favor type 2. Two’s are helpers, they like to meet needs, even rescue people. Two’s pay close attention to the people around them and are quick to spot when something needs to be done. Again, these can all be very good things, but they are not healthy when they are done in order to feel loved and needed. Which, the Enneagram teaches, is a direction two’s can easily go. We discover that being helpful gets us love and attention, and we come to believe that if we are not helpful we won’t be loved.

People have commented to me that they don’t like personality profiles because it tends to put people in boxes. I like the Enneagram because it helps us see the boxes we put ourselves in. They are boxes like Martha’s and my own distraction and anxiety about many tasks. They tend to help us survive or even excel in some parts of life, but, by living in them, we can miss some or much of God, others, and ourselves. And we can’t get out of them until we know they are there and recognize what they are and recognize why they have been important to us. The Enneagram helps us with all these things. It’s a wonderful tool for personal and spiritual transformation.

As an Enneagram two, one of the most important directions for growth for me is to learn to care for myself, as well as caring for others, and learn that it is not something to feel guilty about. As I mentioned, I’m trying to take time away from so many responsibilities, but I’m not just changing what I do, but, with the help of the Enneagram, learning to see myself, God, and the world in a healthier way.

Being around creative people sparks creativity.
Creativity relieves us of our burdensome self consciousness.
Creativity connects us to our heart and relationship with reality.
The sense of meaning and delight in creativity has more to do with the process than the end product. Find in the process what you want to communicate and find out something deeper about yourself. 
                                                                   

 - Russ Hudson, Enneagram and Creativity Online Class, Monday, February 28, 2022                                           

 

As I listened to Russ Hudson during the monthly online class I am taking on the Enneagram and Creativity, I resonated with these descriptions of creativity and  with the following parts of the Point Three perspective.

Three’s will work hard to develop their skill, and stick to goals, but threes need to let the process lead them and not the goals. Slow down, if you are in a rush you are not present. 

Art has been and still is, a saving grace for me as a Three. It has been a place to retreat into, to work out my feelings and work through fears. It has been a way to explore new things, new thoughts. Not just in my own art, but the art others produce; paintings, stories, poetry, music and dance that have inspired me to further my own journey to unknown depths in myself and my relationship with the One who Created me.

In my newsletter and blog posts over the years, I have shared some of this journey. I sometimes spend months on a theme that I feel needs exploring. Sometimes it is something I need to revisit when it comes up again. We are works in progress and like an onion, we peel off layers and find more to see within.

I asked Russ Hudson during the class about getting past the pain of failure, and why one negative voice will shut me down even amidst a large quantity of accolades. Russ encouraged me on a journey back to the heart to sit with and walk through the pain and sadness, giving time, attention and space to reframe, letting a new work spring up, allowing it to reshape what I was working on, even taking it in a direction I had not anticipated.

As I reflected on this, I remembered that although I didn’t complete to publication the book I had been working on, “Waiting on the Lord: An Artist’s Journey,” I did include some of it as I reworked and expanded the God is my Refuge Devotional book in 2017. I have since learned more about waiting and have come to realize the book wasn’t ready to be complete yet. Afterall, I have more to learn about waiting. If you were to word search ‘waiting’ on my website (and scroll down the page for the results), you will see it is a theme I still come back to. It isn’t done with me yet. I find this encouraging. Once I pass through enough layers, maybe I will be able to write it again or something new.

At our Art, Vocabulary for the Soul Retreat, we give attendees space and a starting point in which they can explore their own journey. Like the descriptions of creativity above, we also create for the joy of creating, entering the peace that can come from play and being present to our selves and our surroundings. King’s Fold Retreat Centre is in the foothills of the Rockies overlooking the Ghost River valley.

This retreat is for those who wish to explore how art can speak to them and through them. How it can have a voice that helps one to understand one's self. How the process of creating can be life giving.

All are welcome whether you think of yourself as creative or not. All art mediums are welcome to be used, such as painting, drawing, poetry, writing, song writing, music, and photography.

Will you join us this year?

Three spots left to for this year's retreat. sign up today. Payment plans available. A bursary is available to those in financial need.

Too far to drive? Calgary is the nearest airport and transportation options from the airport can be discussed with King’s Fold staff.