Things Above

things above
tim pezzelle
2012-10
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INTRODUCTION
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I knew her for thirty years - almost to the day – and the only reason I use the word “almost” is because I honestly don’t remember the exact April date that we met for the first time.  The other details of that day are etched in my memory.  As one would fan thru the pages of a long book to gain some sense of the volume, I can blur through the thirty years that followed our first meeting and arrive all too abruptly at the day we parted – another April day. 
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This book is about what happened in the pages I let slip past my thumb – and the pages beyond, yet to be written.  This is my account, but I won’t be telling the story alone.  Sherry’s prayer journals will guide us along the way, and, although they represent only the last four years of her life, they reflect a heart moving always in the direction of God’s love.   Her journey into God’s perfect rest was not a path paved with rose petals.  In fact, the stories that most need to be shared are the hard stories.  It is there, under the crushing weight of what life can sometimes be that we find the stuff of heavenly diamonds….  

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The journals.  Over a four year period before her death, sherry filled 9 sketch books with daily heart art.  Her inspiration for this approach to prayer was a book entitled “Praying in Color”.  The point of the book is to encourage us to understand that prayer is communication AND can occur most effectively when our hearts and minds are both engaged.  The audience for this book is all those “artsy” types who think visually.  I don’t intend for that description to be an insult; on the contrary, it’s a compliment.   After all, God didn’t have Adam apply names (words) to everything He created until after the work was done.  The work of creation is first visual… a vision of what could be. 
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Her typical daily routine was simple.  She would get up in the morning, head to the kitchen to start a small pot of coffee and sit down with her bible.  She would read while the coffee brewed.   When she reached a stopping point, she would pour a cup, and return to the kitchen table.  Then out came the current journal…. and the colored pencils.  She would focus on a phrase or verse from her reading and begin discussing it with God.  It was during the discussion that a blank page – without form and void – would begin to take shape. 

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A trained artist could look at these pages and see nothing of artistic value.  Her husband looks at these pages and sees a priceless masterpiece at every turn.  Sherry’s journals are filled with life.  The pages reflect the reality that some days we are in perfect stride with God… and some days the doorbell rings, leaving that day’s prayer partially complete.
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What I hope you will see, as we travel with her, is something I took for granted until very recently.  Sherry was equipped for life, and ultimately ready for death…. Not because she asked God for what was needed… but because she panted for His presence as a deer pants for water.   She would rather be near God in the middle of a raging fire than without Him by a cool stream.  Things Above.  She set her mind on “things above” and a relentless desire for God’s nearness…. Her reward was all that comes when God is near.

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Where the presence of the Lord is, there is peace.