CREATING SPACE TO LISTEN
Christine Labrum
Artist & Spiritual Director
DRAWINGS of the Jesuit Retreat Center with TEXT
Invitation to Stillness
Pen and Ink/Watercolors
2011
8 x 10 in
We live in a culture that is hurried and busy. More often than not if you ask a friend or an acquaintance “How are you?” you might hear the response “Busy!” There are so many layers to our lives that externally and internally we are often harried and stressed. There is a chaos that cries out for stillness, rest, and order.
I loved the photograph I took one weekend of the porch of the Jesuit Center because it felt like an invitation to me. The image is calm and reflective. There is an interesting tension between the two spaces. For me it is an invitation – to be still, to gain perspective, to listen.
The Sheltering Tree
Pen and Ink/Watercolors
May 2011
8 x 10 in
This weeping beech tree stands guard at the Jesuit Retreat Center in Wernersville. The tree’s tangled limbs reach low to the ground. It is large yet easily overlooked despite its size. But if you wander close, duck beneath its limbs, and enter the tree something changes and your heart may be touched. There is a sense of being protected and covered. The beauty of the sheltering tree is not minimized by scarred trunk or gnarled branches evidence of storms weathered and seasons endured. A strong core supports an abundance of foliage providing a covering for all who walk beneath its canopy.
Perhaps this grand old sentry is a metaphor for a life that offers itself for another. Pastors, mentors, spiritual directors, teachers, and even friends…we offer our lives in love. God touches others through lives that have been strengthened through healed wounds and seasons weathered. The sheltering life holds those entrusted to them that they might experience the One who provides life, redemption, and rest, the Master and Creator of all.
The Open Gate
Pen and ink/Watercolors
2012
8 x 10 in & 11 x 14 in
There is a wrought iron gate that marks the entrance to the Jesuit Retreat Center in Wernersville. The first time I drove through the gate there was a stillness that was tangible. In the years that followed whenever I arrived at the gate I could almost feel my soul sigh and let go.
What did I let go of? I'm not exactly sure. But something in me always seemed to shift. Perhaps, in part, I knew that I had set aside this time for listening to God so I anticipated His presence in tangible ways.
I wanted to capture this iconic structure on paper so one morning I walked down to the gate with camera in hand. From an artist's perspective I could not find the right perspective. After becoming frustrated, and disappointed - I drew close. I looked through the gate to the road that led inward and upward. I had found it: the perspective that allowed me to see the beauty of the gate and the beauty of the context.
A gate is an invitation or an obstacle. A closed or locked gate could offer protection or it could hinder us from going where we want to go. An open gate feels welcoming. A gate typically marks a border line or boundary. We encounter many gates in our lives. Each one involves a choice to cross the line and enter in, or not. Sometimes we know if the gate is an invitation or a warning, and sometimes we do not. It is indeed an opportunity for prayer and discernment. I hope to be willing to enter the gates that are God's invitation to me and willing to bypass the gates where God has placed a warning before me.
Perspective
Pen and Ink/Watercolors
2012
8 x 10 in
The small rooms at the Jesuit Retreat Center provide a sacred space for stillness. It is in that quiet space set apart for listening that I often find discernment, healing, and hope. From that still place I gain a perspective of myself and of the outside world. I can then move into my world with greater love and freedom because I have been with Him and as I seek to abide in Him.
Often God seems to give us the gift of a place, or places where the air is thin and somehow it seems easier to listen and be present to the One who loves us most. It could be a special chair in your home, a park, a place of retreat but regardless…it is imperative that we set aside that time.