Final Prayer
Pray
Walk through.
Walk to.
Walk on.
Walk despite.
Walk amidst.
Walk singing.
Walk in protest.
Walk in hope.
Walk in love.
Walk with your hands up.
Walk with your soul.
Walk with your neighbor.
Walk to the tomb.
Walk into the light.
Walk toward the dawn.
And when it’s dark, and the road is hard,
God, help us walk.
Walk on.
Amen.
—Prayer by Sarah Are

---

A Sanctified Art LLC is a collective of artists in ministry who create resources for worshiping communities. The Sanctified Art team works collaboratively to bring scripture and theological themes to life through film, visual art, curriculum, coloring pages, liturgy, graphic designs, and more. Their mission is to empower churches with resources to inspire creativity in worship and beyond. Driven by the connective and prophetic power of art, they believe that art helps us connect our hearts with our hands, our faith with our lives, and our mess with our God.
Learn more about their work at sanctifiedart.org.
All Stations and reflections by Lauren Wright Pittman. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Lauren is an artist, graphic designer, and theologian. She uses visual art to image the tension, joy, sadness, beauty, and energy she experiences in scripture.

Lisle Gwynn Garrity
Sarah Are
Hannah Garrity
Lauren Wright Pittman

Listen

Read
Matthew 27: 57-60 nrsv
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named
Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked
for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So
Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it
in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a
great stone to the door of the tomb and went away.
Look
Observe the visual qualities of the image: line, shape, movement, and
texture. How do the visual elements connect to the scripture text?
What emotions emerge for you as you observe the art?
Reflect
“When I consider this moment in Joseph’s life, I think about the
normalcy and strangeness of burying a loved one. The ritual act of
burial is a physical reminder of our own fragile mortality and also an
affirmation that we are more than our bodies. This is a completely
natural and wholly unnatural experience. We grasp onto the hope that
our loved one is with God in death, and at the same time, everything
fights within us to hold on to the physicality of those we love. The
contrast within the act of burial makes the duality of Jesus, the
humanity and divinity of Christ, very tangible. I imagine Joseph, filled
with despair, fights to hold onto Jesus’ body, afraid to let go. I imagine
he also feels grounded in faith that Jesus will not be contained.”
—Artist Lauren Wright Pittman
Pray
May I work to break free all that is entombed within and around me. Amen.

Listen

Read
Luke 23: 44-46 nrsv
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until
three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain
of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice,
said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this,
he breathed his last.
Look
Observe the visual qualities of the image: line, shape, movement, and
texture. How do the visual elements connect to the scripture text?
What emotions emerge for you as you observe the art?
Reflect
“The sun has to go away; light is not welcome in this moment.
The curtains of the temple tear like the clothes of a mother rent
in inexplicable sorrow over the loss of her child. I wonder if Jesus’
countless tears change the character of his face, shifting the contours
that his mother and father knew so well. I wonder if his voice
becomes distorted and weathered after enduring such betrayal,
denial, and torture. I wonder if they can see the light in his breath as
it escapes from his lips and swirls up into the dark sky.”
—Artist Lauren Wright Pittman
Pray
May I remember, even in the darkness, that crucified love still lives. Amen.

Listen

Read
john 19: 25-27 nrsv
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and
his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing
beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then
he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the
disciple took her into his own home.
Look
Observe the visual qualities of the image: line, shape, movement, and
texture. How do the visual elements connect to the scripture text?
What emotions emerge for you as you observe the art?
Reflect
“In this moment, I imagine if Jesus could, he would come down off of
the cross, walk up to his mother and hold her in his arms, thanking
her for her courage, persistence, and bravery for bringing him into the
world. I imagine he would hold her face, seeing his whole life dance in
the shades of green and brown of her eyes. I imagine pain welling up
in her glossy eyes as he wipes her tears away. In the midst of his great
pain, in the last moments of his life, Jesus takes care of his mother.”
—Artist Lauren Wright Pittman
Pray
May I care for my own family with the tenderness and warmth you
extend to us all. Amen.