"Clouds on the Horizon" is a 9 x 12 in. pastel painting of a winter scene near Lake Dillon in Colorado.

Meaning of the Art: An anonymous 14th century author wrote the book, The Cloud of Unknowing. It is a book about contemplative prayer. This is a prayer of silence and listening. It is very difficult for me because I am easily distracted.

The author says, "Seek only God. Think of nothing else other than God. Keep your mind free of other thoughts. Give no attention to things of this world....When you begin, you will experience a darkness, a cloud of unknowing." He goes on to say, "Any insight you ever gain of God while you live in this world will be in this cloud and in this darkness."It is a profound book.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Hope" is a 5 x 7 in.mixed media collage on acrylic paper.

Meaning of the Art: How sad it would be to be without hope. Despair would fill the void.

"Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit." CCC

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." Heb 10:33

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Wonder" is a 12 x 16 in. pastel on paper. This is an August scene in Glacier National Park.

Meaning of the art: The words “fear of the Lord” occur many times in the Bible. We are told that it “is the beginning of knowledge” and it “is the beginning of wisdom.” Prv 1:7, Sirach 1:12 Fear of the Lord is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we receive in Confirmation. Is 11:2 It is clearly, something we should desire.

The U.S. bishops have clarified the meaning of this phrase. They say that “fear of the Lord” is “wonder and awe in God’s presence.” Wonder and awe is what I feel when in the presence of beauty in nature but there are other times as well. For example, when I look at a baby I feel the same thing. 

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Teach Me Your Paths" is a 9 x 12 in. pastel on Multi-media Art Panels for Pastel.

Meaning of the Art: "Your Ways O Lord, make known to me; teach your paths." Psalm 25:4

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. Prv 3:5

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Higher Ways" is an 8 x 8 in. collage made from papers I created with acrylic paint and music from a hymnal.

Meaning of the Art: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are our ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thought above your thoughts." Isaiah 55: 8-9

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Two Standards" is an 9 x 12 in. collage. The embedded song that I randomly chose is about seeking.

Our decisions depend on how we think. We make decisions based on our values and philosophy of life. St. Ignatius says that "Christ calls and wants all beneath his standard, and Lucifer, on the other hand, wants all under his." (no. 137)

The Kingdom of God has very different values from this world. Jesus describes these mysterious and different values in the beatitudes in the  Sermon on the Mount. (Mt. 5:1-12)

The evil one tempts us with fame, honor, riches, and power. These seem to be good things.  Actually, all of these things are neutral. They can be used for good or evil. However, it is wrong to love and trust in these things. You cannot love two masters. (Mt. 6:24)

Today is a reflection on my values because I need to have clear thinking. Good decisions cannot be made if my thinking is off.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Peace I Give You" is a 9 x 12 in. pastel painting of a scene at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. Calm reflections represent the peace I feel in those moments when I surrender to God's will and I am free of worldly desires.

This is still a process for me. In those moments when I am truly open to putting all I am and have at the disposal of the Divine Majesty, that is when I feel true peace.

Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27''

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

This small painting took many hours and many failures. The actual prayer was also that difficult.

The whole purpose of the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius is to get rid of our worldly attachments so that we can seek and find the will of God. It is easy to write about these concepts but quite another to internalize and act on them.

St. Ignatius suggests that in order to choose something only for the glory of God, we should pray for the opposite of what we desire. We should pray until the Lord changes our desires, changes our heart. Father De Mello calls this surgical prayer because it is painful. It is painful especially since I like things just the way they are. The painting shows a vague image of a man who is resisting something in prayer.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Freedom" is an 8 x 10 in. pastel painting. Birds of flight represent freedom to me. The Cardinal does not migrate like many other birds. Cardinals are in our backyard in all seasons. For me, it represents true spiritual freedom.

The three loves that I addressed in the last blog are not bad but they are dangerous to the spiritual life.

The three things are carnal, sensual and worldly love. See the last blog for details. What we want is freedom from creature comforts. Anthony De Mello says, "We are not fully free unless we can take them without guilt; and leave them without compulsion."

Lately, I have been hooked on the game Solitaire on the computer. There is nothing wrong with playing this game but I find myself compelled to just play "one more game." Before I know it, I have wasted an hour on four games. That is not freedom because it is a compulsion. So, I decided two games was my limit. I enjoy two games without guilt but then I leave it without compulsion. That is freedom and it can be applied to all things in my life: finances, eating habits, recreation, etc.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Dust in My Eyes" is a 12 x 16 in. pastel painting, the 14th daily painting in my art retreat.

Meaning of the art: St. Ignatius said that if I want to know the will of God I cannot be a victim of three things because they will put a thick layer of dust over my eyes.

1. Carnal love prompts us to avoid physical pain and mental labor such as fatigue, hunger, thirst, heat, etc. It is love of physical comfort.

2. Sensual love is pampering the senses but includes avoiding pain, loneliness, and emptiness.

3. Worldly love is the need for pomp, honor, approval and avoiding all humiliation.

The painting represents these enemies for me. It is hot and dusty. I hunger and thirst in the desert. It is lonely, empty and there are a lot of prickly things to cause pain!

Today, I am looking at how these things get in my way from focusing on what is important. There is a reason prophets, the Israelites, John the Baptist, and Jesus spent time in the desert.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"I Will Trust in You" is an 11 x 14 in. pastel painting.

Meaning of the art: The song "Trust in You" words and music by Laurn Daigle, Paul Mabury and Michael Farren was my inspiration.

"When You don't move the mountains I'm needing You to move; When You don't part the waters I wish I could walk through; When you don't give the answers as I cry out to you, I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You."

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Suffering" is a 12 x 12 in. collage. The papers are watercolor papers treated with watercolor or acrylic paint.

Meaning of the Art: Suffering enters into life periodically. I do not have to look for it. It has found me.

When I am suffering, my whole goal is to get out of it. I see no value in it. However, I have lived long enough to look back at those moments and find that I have grown the most during those times.

No one wants pain but the greatest obstacle to growth is to not learn and grow in those painful moments. Jesus said, "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." Mt 10:38

I would never seek suffering for its own sake and I never spread suffering. I always try to alleviate it.  But, when hardships and suffering come, I will try to learn and grow through it.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Don't Make Waves" is a 9 x 12 in. pastel  painting. When a person lives a life of love and truth, there will be persecution. The kingdom of God is accompanied by opposition and contradiction.When I live kingdom values, I will make waves.

When Jesus was before Pilate Jesus said that his Kingdom was not of this world. Then Jesus said, "For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."  Jesus was then scourged and crucified.

Today is a day to listen to the voice of truth and then live it.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Seeking Truth" is an 8 x 10 in. collage made of altered magazine papers and acrylic paint.

Meaning of the art: "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Phil 4:8

"Jesus said to him. I am the way and the truth and the life." John 14:6

Sometimes God is referred to as the "Absolute." I believe that means He is the absolute truth. How can truth be relative? There has to be an absolute truth that I must seek.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Flowers or Weeds" is a 9 x 12 pastel painting depicting a scene in the Tinley Park Grasslands. There are many wildflowers in this field in the summer. The volunteer who takes care of this land is constantly weeding it because one of the flowers is invasive and not native to the area. If left unchecked it would take over the whole area and ruin the ecosystem. All of the flowers are beautiful. How does he know which one is bad? Can you tell?

My examination of conscience is like weeding this field. There is not a single good thing that cannot be perverted. St. John of the Cross said that there is not a single grace of God that the devil cannot use to his own purposes. The devil can counterfeit anything.

I reflected on the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matt 13:25-30. When both sprout up they look the same but one becomes invasive and destructive and the other is desirable. So, today is a day to look at my life and determine the weeds from the wheat.

My soul is like the ecosystem in the grasslands of Tinley Park. The weeds are my vices and sins. The wheat is the good fruit in my life for the Kingdom of God. Time to do some gardening.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

This begins my second week of a spiritual retreat expressed in my art.

This is called "Penitent," a multi media painting that I did a couple of years ago. The background is acrylic with an image transfer of Psalm 51. I used acrylic pastes for texture on the ground. The figure is pastel on top of collage. I am using this for today's image because I cannot think of a better image for repentance.

When you know the infinite love that God has for you and his loving kindness, sorrow for your sins follows. St. Ignatius puts emphasis on an examination of conscience because the purpose is to increase our love. Sorrow for our sins flows from our love of God. The examination is an exercise in self awareness.

There is a beautiful image of love, repentance, and forgiveness in scripture. This is the story of the sinful woman who bathed Jesus' feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. She then kissed them and anointed them with expensive oil. Jesus said, "So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love." Then he says to her, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Luke 7: 36-50.

Psalm 51 is called the Miserere: Prayer of Repentance. "Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt. A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit."

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

This is the most inadequate painting I have ever done. "Eternal Love" is a 5 x 7 pastel on paper. How do you paint the concept that God is love? The collage did not work out. So, I decided on a red rose because it is a symbol in our culture of human love but it is also a symbol of Jesus.

This is the opening of Pope Benedict's first letter as Pope, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love).

“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” 1 John 4:16. These words from the The First Letter of John express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny. In the same verse, Saint John also offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us”.

There have been a couple of times in my life when I actually had an intense moment of this infinite, divine love. It brought me to tears because how can I ever be worthy of that? The good news is that I am not worthy but God loves me and you just as we are. However, God loves us so much he doesn't want us to stay the way we are. He wants us to become the saint that he created us to be. As Matthew Kelly puts it, God wants us to be the best version of ourselves. That takes some self examination.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

This painting is called "The Cure for Entitlement" and it is a 7 x 5 in. pastel on paper. Yesterday was about detaching myself from worldly things or total dependence on God. I realized that everything I have including my life is a gift from God.

I listened to a video by Father Mike Schmitz called the Cure for Entitlement: http://ascensionpresents.com/video/the-cure-for-entitlement/ I highly recommend all of his videos.

Father Mike gives this definition. Entitlement is when we mistakenly perceive a legitimate need or desire we have, to be something we deserve. I do have some some inherent rights as a human being and especially in the United States. However, when I start seeing most of these things as rights or something that I deserve and is owed to me, then I stop thinking of them as gifts.

If I see that the heavenly Father has given me many gifts that I do not deserve, then I will experience gratitude to Him and I will be joyful. That is what praise is all about. So, today, I am taking a few minutes to count the gifts that I have been given and respond with thanks to God our loving Father.

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Detachment" is a 8 x 10 in. pastel on paper. This is a scene from Millennium Park in Chicago but it could be anywhere in the world. Jesus said, "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours." Luke 6:20 How can Jesus say that? By any worldly standard, how is this woman blessed?

There is a common theme in every retreat I have attended. I must detach myself from worldly things. Poor people, in reality and spiritually,  experience total dependence on God. My possessions can get in my way from remembering that every thing is a gift from God. I read once that I need to "hang on loosely." I have seen two stock market crashes and a lot of our material possessions ruined in a move. It was at times of loss that I found out if I was hanging on loosely.

Material things are not evil but it is my attitude toward them and how I use them. Detachment speaks to the second part of the declaration that precedes the Ignatian Spiritual exercises. Here is the declaration in its entirety.

"Man is  created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for which he is created.

Hence, man is to make use of them in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end, and he must rid himself of them in as far as they prove a hindrance to him.

Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition. Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life. The same holds for all other things.

Our desire and choice should be what is most conducive to the end for which we are created." St. Ignatius

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"Faith" is a 9 x 12 in. pastel on paper. Faith is a gift given to everyone but I must be open to receiving it. Two scripture verses inspired this painting. They speak about faith when some things are not clear at all. I believe not only that God exists but that he is concerned about me. He is intimately involved in my daily life.

"At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor 13:12-13

"Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not see. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible." Hebrews 11:1-3

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"First Principle" is a 16 x 20 in. pastel on Colourfix paper. This is a sunrise above the clouds on Haleakala, a mountain on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Is it any wonder that people have always gone to mountain tops to seek God?

The first principle is a declaration of faith that you make before you start the Ignatian Spiritual exercises. This is where some of you will stop following this spiritual journey because this is not easy for some to accept. However, if you have ever wondered about the meaning of your life, this is it!

"Man is created to praise, reverence,and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for which he is created." St. Ignatius

When a scholar of the law tested Jesus asking him, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him, What is written in the law? How do you read it? He said in reply, You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. He replied to him, You have answered correctly; do this and you will live." Luke 10:25-28

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

"I Seek You" is a 12 x 9 in. pastel painting.

Meaning of the Art: The purpose of this month long retreat is to seek God and His will for my life. There are many paths to finding God. One way is through his creation.

The song, "First," was my inspiration as I painted this. "Before I bring my need, I will bring my heart. Before I lift my cares, I will lift my arms. I wanna know You. I wanna find You, in every season, in every moment. Before I bring my need, I will bring my heart and seek You. First I want to seek You. I want to seek You...

Words and music by Lauren Daigle, Paul Mabury, Jason Ingram, Mia Fieldes and Hank Bentley

"The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for..." Catechism of the Catholic Church 27

"...for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." St. Augustine's Confessions

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy

Today I start painting 30 paintings in 30 days but it is also a month long spiritual retreat. Every day I will post my painting and thoughts for the day. This painting is called "Silence and Solitude," a 9 x 12 in. pastel on paper. When starting a retreat it is important to embrace silence.

Matthew Kelly, a contemporary Christian author, calls this "the classroom of silence." I will not be able to hear the voice of God in the noise of everyday life. I need to spend time is silence. I need to listen and eliminate distractions.

When Elijah the prophet looked for God, he went to a mountain top. From there he saw a strong wind crushing rocks, an earthquake, and a fire but the Lord was not in any of these. Then he heard "a tiny whispering sound." God was speaking to Elijah in a whisper. 1Kings 19:11-13

Thomas Merton quotes a monk in his book Contemplative Prayer, "If you love truth, be a lover of silence. Silence like the sunlight will illuminate you in God and will deliver you from the phantoms of ignorance..."

Peace in God's will,

Sue and Suzy