This year I began with the candles of waiting, a small flame to watch and wait for the Light of the World. For Epiphany I drew the gifts of the Magi, the gold, the myrrh, and the frankincense as oil. I drew the frankincense oil pouring out, as oil anointing a king’s head, as Jesus poured himself out for the whole world. 

For the Epiphany Ordinary days I drew people following Jesus. They are all types and ages. They bring others along. There are some before and some behind. They are Jesus followers. Whether we feel close through growing places or far away through desert places, we are Jesus followers, too. We follow Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, to his death on the cross, and to his glory on Easter. 

And when Jesus died, the curtain tore. Behind the torn curtain this year we find the verses of Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV), “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” and Jeremiah 31:33 (NIrV), “‘This is the covenant I will make with Israel after that time,’ announces the Lord. ‘I will put my law in their minds. I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God. And they will be my people.’”

The stone tablets of the law were kept in the Ark where God’s presence dwelt with his people. But now God’s presence is so much closer; God has written his commands on our hearts! 

For Ascension Sunday I drew the cloud; for Pentecost Sunday, the fire that burns but does not consume. I continue to love the pillars of cloud and fire next to each other on the calendar each year. 

For Trinity Sunday (this may be my favorite Trinity Sunday image yet) I drew three bowls pouring into each other, coming from each other, and overflowing; pouring out into the world. Together we wonder, through Pentecost’s Ordinary days, how this pouring-out is abundant yet sufficient. It is life in the driest times, sustenance in desert times, and the verdant source of all good growing things in our lives. 

May God go with you as you journey closer to them this year.