Hello friends! It’s been far too long since I’ve written you!  Turns out summer for an ordained UMC youth pastor is RELENTLESS.  I’ve been to Annual Conference, task force meetings, VBS, Youth Week, a Mission Week, and on top of that, I’ve been moving into a new home.  Wesley Bros Comics tends to be an outlet for me, a spiritual discipline where I can sit in the quiet and prayerfully meditate while creating art.  But I just haven’t found the time!  So today, I went to this gorgeous little coffee shop in my new town, grabbed a hot Americano and just started sketching in my book with no ideas, no agendas, no need to upload a comic and share with you.  I drew this to reconnect with my characters, to reconnect with the peace that comes with making art, and to allow myself a coffee break (or fika, as the Swedish say), from my non-stop summer adventures.

As the Black Wing  pencil began its familiar movements, I found myself fighting against my agendas.  I thought I wanted to make this huge, elaborate full page splash, riddled with characters and details, telling a story (that maybe I’ll have the bandwidth to tell in weeks to come).  But the eraser did its magic and insisted on something simpler.  If I needed to process anything this time, it wasn’t the details of my experiences in this crazy world, it was instead more close to home.  My own inner John and Charles, the head and the heart.  With Pedro the Lion’s excellent new album in my ears (his own reflections on coming of age), I found myself illustrating my desire to be productive, to create experiences and make ministry happen, to “make a difference” in the world for the glory of God… balanced with my actual need to be fed, to rest, to enjoy, to create without seeing how many “likes” or revenue I can generate.  I needed to sit with my feelings, which tend to move in and out of happiness, sadness, and anxiety that I’m not doing enough… Also, I really just wanted to draw Grimalkin the cat.

So yes, I’m posting this “unfinished” photo of my sketchbook, and yes, I’m sharing my thoughts here with you, so maybe I failed at my own assignment.  But I also think that maybe it’s a balance that many of us struggle to maintain.  So I leave you with this blessing: May you find balance for your head and heart, and may you make way for true sabbath amid the busyness of your life. Amen.