Thursday, February 17, 2011

Inspiration

Let's start with a confession. I'm not gifted in scripture memorization! But I am more successful in remembering scripture if I've learned it through a hymn. God's Word even calls us to do this...Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16). Thanksgiving for this! I think what helps me is that the words actually impress a visual in my brain. Maybe this is like the flashcards my children make to help them learn their SAT vocabulary and terminology for plant biology? At ages 15 and 19 they are finally realizing there is a better connection when different learning strategies are employed to work towards one goal. And, this is what our horn always toots at Carrot Top Studio...people often need a visual to connect with the spoken Word to help the lesson sink deeper within our soul.

This past Sunday, in the church I attend, we sang one of my favorite hymns, God, You Spin the Whirling Planets. This hymn that speaks to the creation story in Genesis 1:26-27 conjures up wonderful visual images in my mind. In fact last summer Carrot Top Studio even created a stole inspired by the text as seen to the left and on our website hereIf you're not familiar with this contemporary hymn written by Jane Huber you can here a rendition here

What hymns bring visual images to your mind? We're looking forward to the season of Ordinary Time after Easter when we can explore stitching for the themes of Christianity that are not focused on major celebration days and seasons. As always we'll look forward to hearing from you...maybe you know a hymn that will inspire a stole!