Shades of Light Study Guide E-Book

Sharon Garlough Brown

• Herausgeber: IVP Formatio
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Seitenzahl: 63

Beschreibung

Sharon Garlough Brown's novel Shades of Light is an exploration of depression, anxiety, caregiving, and the healing journey. In particular, it offers windows into the power of art as a spiritual practice. This six-week study guide is an opportunity for you to reflect on how the experiences of the characters in the novel resonate with your own experience. Daily Scripture readings and reflection questions are accompanied by an invitation to explore creativity through art and prayer collage. You'll also be introduced to the practice of visio divina (meditating on art) through a weekly link to a piece of art by Vincent van Gogh. With simple spiritual practices, this guide offers a healing balm for those in the midst of difficult seasons.

Leseprobe

SHARON GARLOUGH BROWN

Study GuideSix Weeks for Individuals or Groups

Contents

Introduction

Week One: Prologue Through Chapter Five

Week One Group Discussion

Week Two: Chapters Six Through Eleven

Week Two Group Discussion

Week Three: Chapters Twelve Through Seventeen

Week Three Group Discussion

Week Four: Chapters Eighteen Through Twenty-Three

Week Four Group Discussion

Week Five: Chapters Twenty-Four Through Thirty-One

Week Five Group Discussion

Week Six: Chapters Thirty-Two Through Forty

Week Six Group Discussion

About the Author

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INTRODUCTION

The themes and content of Shades of Light can be difficult—even painful—to process. But if you’re exploring this study guide as a resource, you’ve said yes to a journey I pray will be comforting, affirming, and soul-enlarging for you. Thank you for being courageous, for being willing to travel deeper with God into the landscape of sorrow and suffering, particularly as it impacts those who are afflicted with depression and anxiety. Even if you don’t suffer from mental health issues yourself, statistics indicate you likely know someone who is suffering, whether that struggle is visible or not. Perhaps, like Jamie, you’re walking the road as a “co-sufferer” alongside a loved one. Or perhaps you’re processing a different kind of grief and loss. No matter where you find yourself, I hope this guide will invite you into more intimate communion with the Man of Sorrows, who is acquainted with grief and who keeps us company in ours.

This is not a “mental health workbook,” nor is it designed to be a substitute for therapy, support groups, or pastoral care. This is a journey in spiritual formation, exploring how God meets us in our affliction and shapes us in the midst of it. Though Shades of Light specifically speaks to the issues of depression and anxiety, this study guide addresses grief and suffering in broad terms through art, Scripture, and spiritual disciplines.

I recommend reading Shades of Light first in its entirety and then returning to this guide for an in-depth exploration, chapter by chapter. Though the study guide is formatted to be completed in six weeks, feel free to take it at your own pace so you’re not overwhelmed by the content and you have space to pray and reflect in an unhurried way.

Each week contains five days of reflection questions and Scripture readings, along with a spiritual practice and invitation to pray with a painting by Vincent van Gogh. You do not need to answer every question every day. But do watch for any impulse to avoid answering a question. Perhaps that’s the most important one for you to ponder. You may also find that the characters’ journeys tap deep things for you that aren’t addressed in the questions. I encourage you to stay with what stirs you as you journal your reflections.

If words are difficult for you to process, you can follow the creative suggestions for prayer included in the guide. (You may even wish to paint your emotions and prayers, as Wren does.) Perhaps, like Wren, you’re struggling to pray or read Scripture. I encourage you to try to read the daily Scripture verses aloud, even if you feel like you can’t take them to heart. Go gently—without condemnation—and trust that you’ll receive what you need as by faith you open yourself to God’s presence with you.

Also included in the guide are group discussion questions. Though I long for every reader to have the opportunity to share the journey with even one trustworthy traveling companion, I know community can be a challenge to both find and practice well. I encourage you to be brave and invite others to join you in this study. Depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues can be intensely isolating and overwhelming, both for the afflicted and for those who love them. I pray God will provide you with healing companionship as you move forward.

One final note: you’ll be invited to assemble a prayer collage during week five (individual) and week six (group). This takes a bit of advance planning to find magazines or images to print or cut out. You might want to start collecting now.

As you travel with this guide, I hope the characters will become windows and mirrors into seeing yourself and God more clearly. May the Lord direct your steps and give you courage. And may he enlarge your capacity to receive his comfort, compassion, and love so you can offer these gifts to others.

Grace to you,

Sharon Garlough Brown

The LORD bless you

and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you

and give you peace.

NUMBERS 6:24-26

WEEK ONE

Prologue Through Chapter Five

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: NOTICING BEAUTY

Wren is grateful for the presence of beauty in the midst of desolation. This week, practice looking for beautiful things, especially in surprising places. This might be something aesthetically pleasing, or it might be an uplifting story of courage or an act of kindness. Make a list of what you notice and add to your “beauty inventory” as you work through this study. For what can you give God thanks? How might the practice of noticing and naming beauty shape you?

VISIO DIVINA:TREE ROOTS IN A SANDY GROUND (LES RACINES); (1882, KRÖLLER-MÜLLER MUSEUM, OTTERLO)

Visio divina (sacred seeing) is similar in practice to lectio divina (sacred reading). In lectio divina we are invited into a slow and prayerful pondering of Scripture, paying attention to the words or phrases that stir us and lead us into conversation and communion with God. In visio divina we are invited into a slow and prayerful pondering of visual images (paintings, photographs, sculpture, etc.), noticing the details that catch our attention and draw us into conversation and communion with God.

Each week, you can choose when and how often to pray with the suggested art. To begin, find an online image of the work. Then ask God to guide your attention as you look at it. If you are new to the practice of praying with art, the following prompts might be helpful.

Vincent saw within the image of the tree roots the struggle for life and hope, which he felt profoundly in his own life. Begin by looking at the form and shape of the tree. What words come to mind to describe it? What memories or feelings are evoked in you as you gaze at it? Pay attention to both positive and negative responses.

Now shift your gaze to the ground, to the roots. Where is the tree planted? What other images come to mind as you look at it? What do you wonder about? Worry about? Long for? How does the image connect with your own life, both your struggles and your hopes? Speak with God about what is stirred in you as you “read” the painting in prayer.

WEEK ONE: DAY ONE

Prologue

Scripture Contemplation: Psalm 139:1-3

You have searched me, LORD,

and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

Read the prayer aloud a few times. Does the truth that God thoroughly knows you and is familiar with all your ways comfort you or disquiet you? Why? Speak with God about what you notice.

FOR REFLECTION