Daily Nourishment for Easter Sunday: Frederick Buechner, Dandelions, and More Art

Daily Nourishment Read Time: 40 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 10-15 minutes


Palm Sunday marked the beginning of Holy Week in the Christian tradition. SDW Daily Nourishment will provide Pauses, Prompts, and Practices to help readers explore the meaning of this liturgical season and notice personal connections between these specific days and our present realities. All are welcome to engage with the art and ideas below.

“Human beings characteristically see patterns and make connections. Christians ought to celebrate that faculty and receive it as part of how we find our way to God.” - Lauren Winner, “Encountering Art and Encountering God”

Pause.

Take several deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale while looking at this art or this art or this art.

 

Prompt.

Read some words on Easter by Frederick Buechner 
Here’s an excerpt:

“The symbol of Easter is the empty tomb. You can't depict or domesticate emptiness. You can't make it into pageants and string it with lights. It doesn't move people to give presents to each other or sing old songs. It ebbs and flows all around us, the Eastertide. Even the great choruses of Handel's Messiah sound a little like a handful of crickets chirping under the moon.

He rose. A few saw him briefly and talked to him. If it is true, there is nothing left to say. If it is not true, there is nothing left to say. For believers and unbelievers both, life has never been the same again. For some, neither has death. What is left now is the emptiness. There are those who, like Magdalen, will never stop searching it till they find his face.”

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AND/OR Read the poem “Dandelions” by Peter Campion

 

Practice.

Set a timer for 10 minutes and freewrite in response to one or more links above.

Or pick a few sentences from the essay or a few lines from the poem to copy down three or four times. You can treat it like a meditative practice. Go slow. Notice how your hand makes each letter, each shape. Pay attention.

Want More?
Peruse some of the recent posts at artandtheology.org.

Listen to this album.


Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.

*Please help us protect our intellectual property, our creative process, and the integrity of our work. Spiritual Direction for Writers® Daily Nourishment is covered under the Spiritual Direction for Writers® trademark. You are welcome to share this link with others, but any other use (written or spoken) is prohibited without written permission from Charlotte Donlon.


 
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Daily Nourishment for April 6: The State of Being Alone with James Baldwin

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Daily Nourishment for Holy Saturday: A Revision Exercise from Lauren Winner