Tension

FROM OUR JOURNAL PAGES:

PEG: This is the first painting Chuck and I created after he moved to Minneapolis to go to seminary. Somehow I expected us to paint like we had for the last two years, but it was a struggle. We spent weeks trying to get back to our normal painting process, and each other. We didn’t get comfortable until our subject matter matched our emotional state. Finally with the help of the painting we dealt with the reality of the changes we’d experienced. It reminded me that reconciliation is a process and requires tending. Relationships between people, communities or countries need attention.

CHUCK: Tension when managed can lead to new discoveries. When left unattended can spin out of control and can lead to divide. This painting has been a dialogue of working through our tensions of creating together. Our process and each other needed tending and nurturing. Working through our process of listening, responding and creating again confirmed for us that holding in the tension can lead to something new. The risk being that tension left unbalanced can lead to destruction.