This episode describes three ways the arts help us show compassion as wounded healers. A guided 5-minute breath prayer is included to help you experience God's compassion personally:

Hands tell a lifetime of stories. So does art. Using a piece called Rainbow Hands from the book A Cloud of Outrageous Blue by Vesper Stamper, I lead a 10-minute visio divina exercise.

“It’s possible that 2020 is the year of the sketch phase.” Author-illustrator Vesper Stamper is the artist of the month. She joins me to talk about embodied art and fighting for joy. She also reads from her new book A Cloud of Outrageous Blue.

Does shame hinder you from being the artist you are? Artist and writer Vesper Stamper came to faith in a creative environment that was “decidedly unshameful.” She’s the artist of the month. Her book What the Night Sings won multiple awards and her new book A Cloud of Outrageous Blue recently released.

Artists see the world differently, and yet, we desperately want to be seen and heard. Illustrator and storyteller Vanessa Brantley Newton's mission is to help children of all backgrounds know they are valued. Her work touches adults just as profoundly, and her story of harnessing dyslexia, synesthesia, and stuttering makes her a powerful advocate for those who feel invisible and out of place.

Josh is the host and creator of the Invitation Podcast. He is a certified spiritual director, a retreat leader, and facilitator of contemplative prayer practices in prisons. In part of one of this interview, we talk about rediscovering the art of brewing beer, being human, and wakefulness.

Carolyn Arends is a recording artist, speaker, author, and college instructor. We talk about the ebb and flow of creative rhythms and bringing our doubts to God. We chat about:

• tending to your garden during exile as a creative person,

• and expressing emotions with God during disorientation through prayer and art,

In this podcast we talk about:

• developing creative rhythms for home, work, and faith,

• silence, solitude, and movement as contemplative practice,

• what art can teach us about letting go and moving forward in pandemic and unknowing,