Diwali 2012

Today marks the beginning of the 5-day Northern Indian Hindu festival of Diwali, or the Festival of Lights (in South India it is called Deepavali).  Like Dashain in Nepal and Navratri in India, Diwali celebrates to victory of the Good over the Evil and Light over Darkness.  On the first day of Diwali, part of the festivities include drawing designs called rangolis on the ground in front of the entrance to one's home, as a form of welcome to the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity, Lakshmi.  This brought to mind another painting of mine...

2012 Dashain Prayer Book

Cody C. Lorance, the Senior Pastor and Church Planting Leader for Trinity International Baptist Mission, has posted a 2012 Dashain Prayer Book.  Cody's book encourages Nepalese and other Christians to "ask God to fill our lives with his Holy Spirit and to produce the Spirit's fruit in us."  He writes:

Dashain is the greatest festival of Nepal. In this time we Bhutanese-Nepali devotees offer prayer during nine days. Every family should pray that the Holy Spirit would come into their homes. What do we need in life? All people need the nine fruit of the Holy Spirit. This small book will guide you during the Dashain-Navaratri prayer season. In this way, you may receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Because when we pray in the name of Lord Jesus, God the Father will hear us!

In addition, Cody used one of my paintings for the cover!  The painting is a cross-shaped design called a rangoli, which is a decorative design "made on the floors of living rooms and courtyards during Hindu festivals. [A rangoli is] meant to be sacred welcoming [area] for the Hindu deities" (Wikipedia).  This one shows the pierced feet of Jesus in the middle, welcoming Him into one's home.  Cody uses rangolis in some of his contextualized church rituals.