Creative Lenten Practice, Session Two: Resting in the Middle
Lent is not only a season for releasing. It is also a season for telling the truth.
Sometimes what surfaces after we let go of things is not clarity or peace, but tiredness. Grief. Longing. The sense of being in the middle of something unfinished.
Scripture makes space for this. The prayers in the Book of Psalms are full of lament: faithful cries of “How long, O Lord?” spoken not in despair, but in trust that God is listening.
And Jesus Christ himself knew what it was to be weary. In the garden he told his friends, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow.” He asked them simply to stay with him.
Rest in Lent is not about fixing what hurts or escaping difficulty. It is about allowing ourselves to be seen and held exactly where we are.
This practice invites you to slow down, honor what feels weary, and practice receiving rather than controlling.
You can set aside about an hour, or shorten the practice if needed.
Supplies:
your previous project from session one OR watercolor paper
watercolor ink or liquid watercolor (or regular watercolor paint)
water in a spray bottle
a brush or dropper
paper towels
Step 1: Prepare your body (5 minutes)
Make a cup of tea or another warm drink if you’d like. Sit somewhere comfortable and let yourself settle into silence.
You might read this poem by Jan Richardson slowly:
Let us agree for now
that we will not say
the breaking makes us stronger
or that it is better to have this pain
than to have done without this love.Let us promise we will not tell ourselves
time will heal the wound,
when every day our waking opens it anew.Perhaps for now it can be enough
to simply marvel at the mystery
of how a heart so broken
can go on beating, as if it were made for precisely this—
as if it knows the only cure for love is more of it,
as if it sees the heart’s sole remedy for breaking is to love still.
Sit quietly for a moment. Let yourself simply arrive.
Step 2: Reflect (5 minutes)
Read slowly:
Lent gives us permission to stop pretending that everything is fine.
The psalms remind us that lament can be faithful prayer.
Jesus reminds us that sorrow and weariness are not signs of failure.
Rest, in this season, is not about escape or resolution.
It is about allowing ourselves to be seen and held as we are.
Tonight we will not try to fix what hurts.
We will simply notice it and bring it gently into God’s presence.
Step 3: Journal (15 minutes)
Write freely in response to one or more of these questions:
What feels tired, sad, or unfinished in me?
Where do I feel weary in the long middle?
What do I long for God to see?
Write slowly.
You do not need to explain or resolve anything.
Simply tell the truth.
Step 4: Rest With Ink (15–20 minutes)
Choose one color.
Place a drop of ink on the paper and watch what happens.
You might tilt the paper slightly and allow gravity to move the color.
You might spray a little water and let it spread.
You might blot gently with a paper towel and watch the pigment lift away.
Move slowly.
This is not about painting something.
It is about allowing the ink to move in its own way.
Sometimes you may guide it slightly.
Sometimes you may simply watch it spread.
As you work, remember:
You do not need to make anything happen.
God is already here.
Let the ink teach you how to rest.
Step 5: Sit and Wonder (5–10 minutes)
When you’re finished, sit quietly and look at what has emerged.
Stay close to the process rather than trying to interpret the result.
You might reflect on one of these questions:
I wonder what it felt like to watch the ink move.
I wonder what it was like not to control where the color went.
I wonder what happened inside me when I slowed down.
I wonder what it was like to let gravity and water do the work.
I wonder where I noticed tension or release.
There is nothing you need to figure out.
Just notice.
Step 6: Close in Prayer
You might end with this prayer from Julian of Norwich:
Lord Jesus Christ,
in our sorrow you draw near to us.
In our weariness you hold us.
In our questions you remain faithful.
Help us to rest in your love tonight.
Help us to trust that nothing is wasted in your hands.
Keep us in your mercy,
surround us with your peace,
and remind us again that
all shall be well,
and all shall be well,
and all manner of things shall be well.
Amen.
Or you might pray:
O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved,
in quietness and confidence shall be our strength:
Lift us by your Spirit into your presence,
where we may be still and know that you are God;
through Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP)