I made this card a number of years ago as part of a SoulPerSuit (SPS) meditation, which is basically refrigerator art made for God. (It does not have to be Rembrandt quality. It's just a playing-card-sized expression of a child toward a loving Parent.)

What does this one mean?

It was a year of war. The U.S. had invaded both Afghanistan and Iraq. Iraq was formerly Babylon, where Daniel prayed to the Lord in the midst of a generation who did not know Yahweh. It's easy to pray "bless the U.S. troops and keep them safe," but all humans--even those in nations against whom we fight--are made in God's image. And anyway, we're told to bless our enemies.

I was also taking a PhD class from a woman who is not a Christian. She was initially rather militant against the gospel (but she actually softened when she heard about SoulPerSuit and the desire to give artistic expression to our spiritual contemplations). Her speciality is Italian. I put the word "Italian" there as an acknowledgment that God's mercies extend to her, too. And finally, I included a very small "me." Every day I am under the mercy of a holy God.

I just returned from spending a weekend doing a women's retreat at the beautiful Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina. And my friend Rhonda, a co-SPSer, joined me from her home in Winston-Salem. She showed the women how to do SPS, and they came up with some moving, amazing stuff.

You can see more in the days to come at the retreat gallery on the SPS web site.