Friday, April 03, 2009

What's Your Gear?



Even though I haven't been posting for months, that doesn't mean that I don't read and reflect on other blogs. Today Internet Monk posed an interesting question on his blog. What is my "gear"? What things do I use to draw my attention to the Lord, to remind me to pray, to shift my focus from the everyday to the eternal?
Good question.
Although I don't carry aluminum crosses (70's fad) in my pocket, use beads to pray, or even read a daily devotional, I do have a picture in my computer room that qualifies as "gear", I think. It isn't something I bought or was given to me...It's something I created.
Several years ago, I took an intro to drawing class at the local college. A state university, not a "Christian" school, not a "Christian" class, but a place where I was encouraged to share my beliefs through art. What a surprise when our instructor challenged us to draw our concepts of heaven and of hell! It was a thought-provoking challenge for me to work out my theology with charcoal and paper instead of propositional debate. And it was a great opportunity to explain to others why I drew what I did.
The cross, the door, the nail-scarred hand inviting me in to meet the Father...I look at that crude drawing and I reflect, not only on heaven and how to experience a relationship with God, but on the cost. John 14:6 says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
His gift, represented by my gear.
What gear do you use?