One of my favorite aspects of Christian Mandalas™ studies is: sharing drawings with others in small groups. Yes, you read that right, you have to draw in these study books. A lot of the time when someone hears that, the response is: I can’t draw (did that just go through your head?). But the members of my small group were willing to give it a try.
Early on, I was concerned that people would be self-conscious about sharing their mandalas. Especially if they didn’t draw well. In practice, the worse people draw, the livelier the small group discussion. This will happen more and more as the group grows closer. People want to share, despite their drawing abilities. They engage, laugh, and learn.
The drawings from members of the small groups, called Christian Mandalas, contain deep insights into Scripture. Insights that I didn’t always get during my study. In fact, I enjoy other people’s mandalas so much that sometimes I rebuild them in Photoshop®, and sprinkle in a few 3D elements while I’m at it (don’t worry, this isn’t a requirement for the study).
The cleaned-up mandalas I build retain the basic composition/concepts from the original group member’s drawing.
The mandala shown above was originally drawn by a member of our group. It comes from Jesus’ I AM Statement: “I am the door of the sheep.” Again, I’ve given the original drawing (shown below) a digital makeover.
Notice how the sheep start at about 11 o’clock, in the darker portion of the circle (refer to the image up top). The sheep proceed past the false shepherds, shown in black, at 9 o’clock, and continue to travel until they pass through ‘the door’ at about 6 o’clock. From there, they enter green fields bathed in golden light. The door itself is an opening below a golden colored man, who is outlined in red and orange. Up a little ways from the image center is a reddish, oval shape, approximately where the man’s mouth would be. White light emanates out from the mouth, reaching all the sheep. The light appears to be swirling, as if sweeping them through the door to the safety on the other side.
The sheep hear their master’s voice and know him. They follow that voice and are blessed with abundant life.
Original Drawing for I AM THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP
On Sunday, we will move on to Part 2: The Good Shepherd.