VISIO DIVINA FOR WOMAN – Kimberly Williams
Today we feature 31 year old Kimberly Williams of Chaguanas who confesses that she still attends her original family parish of St Benedicts in La Romaine because, “its home, that’s where all my family is”.
This piece started of as something that Kimberly thought was a ridiculous request from her mother. Kimberly’s maternal grandmother was an art teacher, her mother could paint and draw and her two brother were very artistic but both Kimberly and her dad seemed to have missed the art gene. So when Kimberly’s mother saw an art competition in the catholic news and asked her not artistic at all daughter to participate, she thought it was the craziest request.
To please her mother, who Kimberly said is her best friend, she read her bible and then focused on her mother’s favourite Bible verse, John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. As she read the verse she found perspective and drew this piece, that she says, “ symbolizes the offerings of Jesus buried in the sacred heart which signifies God’s passionate and boundless love for mankind and then on “the lower side of the heart displays a puncture with drops of blood representing the heartache from the sins of mankind”.
Creating this piece was the beginning of her journey in to becoming artistic and so this piece gave her confidence to paint other piece and then to explore more of her creative side. This lead to her being able to do open her business where she creates wooden/ natural pieces of craft call KrafThings.
Kimberly says everything she does is guided by the Holy spirit and she prays before she begins a piece and thanks God every-time a piece is completed”
So here is how we are going to do it.
Set aside 15 minutes in the day for the guided prayer experience
As you begin to prayer take a few minutes to open your heart and mind to God.
When you are ready, slowly look and notice the image, taking your time to let feelings and thoughts come to you as you take in forms, figures, colors, lines, textures, and shapes. What does it look like, or remind you of? What are your initial thoughts? What feelings are evoked?
Now, return to the image with an open heart and mind again. You may now experience new thoughts, meanings, and feelings. Start, exploring new meanings and feeling that come to you associated with the image. Be aware of any assumptions or expectations that you bring to the image. Regardless of your response to the image — delight, disgust, indifference, and confusion — contemplate prayerfully the reason for your response and what these responses might mean for and about you.
As you go deeper in this prayer, open yourself to what the image might reveal to you. What does the Spirit want to say, evoke, make known, or express to you in quiet meditation? What are your feelings, thoughts, desires, and meanings evoked by the image and how they are directly connected to your life?
Now, take the time to respond to God. Jot down in a journal the insights you want to remember, actions you are invited to take, wisdom you hope to embody, or any feelings or thoughts you wish to express. Bring your prayer to a close by resting in God’s grace and love.
Please email us as at forwomen@catholictt.org on the impact this activity may have had on your day, and be sure to share the artist’s image on your social media feeds.
Source info: https://www.patheos.com/resources/additional-resources/2009/07/praying-with-art-visio-divina