What To Do In Angry Times

I’m almost certain that painting a wall is a form of prayer.

It has been a strange week in Canada. It has been a strange two years. People have struggled to understand how to talk with one another. Public conversation on social media has lost any sense of nuance or subtlety, or an understanding that people can be more than just one side or that it might just be possible to have mixed views on a subject. Anger spews out from headlines and online forums, it seeps into casual conversations and pulls friendships apart.

This past week my social media was filled with aggressive words from both sides of the political/social aisle.

Everyone, it seems, is just so angry. 

When things get like this I paint a room.

I sit, in the quiet, and the rhythm of the movements stills my heart. I pray and I make something new.

I do this to remind myself that God is over all these things and is redeeming the world - whether I saw it in my social media feed and the news this week, or not.

Thankfully, what I can see does not define the breadth of God’s work. Quite often, the best work He does is that which is unseen. The work of redemption is often slow, like flower bulbs germinating below the winter snow.

I have found it a good practise to act out what I am praying.  Participating in some small scale but relying on God to do the great work. 

As I redeem the wall and make it beautiful, I remind myself that God is doing the same thing in the world. That He is alive and well and at work. That paint, like love, can cover over a multitude of nicks, scrapes, and sins.

As I paint, I think about the words from Isaiah,

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:19)

I don't always perceive it. Do you? Wading through all the chaos of this time makes it difficult. I didn’t perceive it this week. So I roll my roller and ask that God would give me new eyes to see and faith to believe.

I ask God to have mercy and make a river in this desert, a way in this wilderness. I beg.

And then I speak again the sister passage, the words God spoke again in Revelation:

“And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new. And he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

I have the smallest glimpse of hope that this time is like the healing and cleaning out of a deep wound, perhaps many wounds. And when healed the body will work again.

But for now, I will paint.

With each stroke I will whisper “God is making all things new”. “God is doing a new thing…” Over and over again, breath the words in and out. In and out. Let it seep into my pours and my soul. 

I cling to this trustworthy and true statement. I reorient my heart towards the deepest truths.

In and out, in and out, rolling up and down the wall.

I pray for strength as I wait for his regenerative work in my own heart and in those I see fractured and broken in this time. 

I pray for us to find a way through the anger, the hurt, and the pain. Find a way to build bridges and repent and find forgiveness. That God would remake me in His image - a waymaker. 

God is making all things new and it is going to be so beautiful.

And while I paint and when my painting is done, I ask to be apart of the redemptive work God is doing in the world.

You and I are invited to participate. Our own gardens need tending too. We can apologize to our children, our spouses, our friends, our neighbours, our enemies. We can confess and seek forgiveness for words we have spoken in anger and the hatred we have made excuses for in our own hearts.

We can refuse to drink the poison of this time.

We can give water to the thirsty, give generously, clothe those who are naked, visit those sick or in prison.

You and I can share more vulnerably and listen more attentively. You and I can do the hard holy work of loving whoever God has put right infront of us, and we can start with our own houses, churches, work places, and streets. 

May God show us all what we are to do in this time, how we should live, how we can walk humble and seek justice but also, possibly more importantly, mercy. May God show us how we can exemplify His loving kindness to our neighbour and those around us.

May you know you are not alone in your participation in redemption and, in His good grace, may God give us a glimpse of the redemption work He is doing beyond my freshly painted wall.