An Image Of Prayer

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;
By his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.
Prov 3:19-20, NRSV

MEPKIN ABBEY SC (CR News) — Okay! We’re going to keep this as simple and to-the-point as possible. We really enjoy drawing caricatures. And people enjoy watching caricatures being drawn — it can be like magic (so to speak).

At the same time, our life is marked by prayer. Prayer is one of the central values in our life. It is like cool, refreshing water for our soul.

So it would only seem natural that we would eventually connect these two wonderful gifts in service to God and our friends.

Let’s talk!

LOOKING BACK …

For decades, we have gone out on mission with pen and paper in hand. It’s no exaggeration when we say that we have drawn tens of thousands of little caricatures of the people around us. More often than not, as we handed our little caricatures over to subjects, we’ve told them that Jesus loves them. And we also reminded them that they were made in God’s image and likeness.

Of course, it’s been fun watching people study their little caricatures. The first thing most of them do is to compare the caricature with their own self-image. We never see ourselves quite the same way that others see us.

But then, many try to catch a glimpse of Jesus in the image drawn on the little piece of paper. They try to see where and how Jesus fits into their lives. All of this from a little caricature on a small piece of paper!!!

DRAW! DRAW! DRAW!

We like to tell people that “… we draw people to draw people so that we might draw people!” Of course, that makes absolutely no sense the first time anyone hears it. So we explain.

WE DRAW PEOPLE — we sketch them. We draw little caricatures.
WE DRAW PEOPLE — the caricatures make people curious. So we often attract small crowds.
WE DRAW PEOPLE — we tell them about our Friend named Jesus. Some decide they want to become a friend of Jesus (Jn 15:15) too.

LOOKING AHEAD …

The times are changing. Technology now makes it possible for people to “watch” us draw people whenever it’s convenient for them to do that. So recently, we decided to draw (quickly) in short videos online. We’ve put our first effort of a drawing video online below.

For now, the caricatures will be of priests, religious, and lay people in leadership in our home diocese (Diocese of Charleston). We’ll also do some caricatures of media people (EWTN, Catholic TV Network, Catholic radio, magazine, newspapers, etc.). But who knows! Maybe some day, we’ll do this with ordinary people too. People like you and us!

The video below is a caricature of Fr. Joseph Tedesco. Fr. Tedesco is a Trappist priest at Mepkin Abbey near Charleston. He works and prays (ora et labora) there as he lives a monastic lifestyle.

Pray for us. Pray for the dear people we draw. And think carefully about who you are in Christ!

That’s our story, and we’re sticking to it. It’s cool to be Catholic. COOL2B!

Vivat Jesus!