The Revd David Poulton, a retired United Reformed Church (URC) minister who lives with cross lateral dyslexia, has used his creative talents to create ColourWeaving prayers for the Daily Devotions.
David, whose form of dyslexia means information that would normally be processed on both sides of the brain has to jump back and forth between each hemisphere, uses colours as an alternative means to communicate with God.
In this form of prayer, colours are used to symbolise specific thoughts and feelings.
David explains ‘Boldness’, the colourful prayer used to interpret the Daily Devotion for 29 June which explores 1 John 5: 13-17 and is written by the Revd Jacky Embrey, Moderator of the Mersey Synod.
‘This ColourWeaving Prayer is just one still from an evolving prayer that touched something in me when I read the reflection by Jacky,’ he says.
‘The text, the reflection and the prayer all speak about our boldness to pray and so, for me, the colours used are bold and striking; some are warm and embracing. Equally, prayer can be tinged with darker thoughts of not being heard, being alone or separated from God; these colours are colder and more distant.’
The colours used in Boldness and their symbolic meaning are: amber/caring, cyan blue/thankfulness, cherry red/recovery, ochre/breaking (bread), jade green/hopeful, flax yellow/wholeheartedness, caramel brown/walking, purple/God, green-mint/separation, red-orange/forgiveness, orange peel/joy, purpureus purple/Jesus, yellow/love, wheat/now, azure blue/tenderness, iris blue/saved, and mauve/confidence.
A film of ‘Healing’, an evolving prayer inspired by the Daily Devotion for 30 June which explores Psalm 103 and is written by the Revd Dominic Grant, Minister for Trinity URC in Wimbledon, can be seen here.
.In addition to the colours explained above, the colours used in Healing are: teal blue/refreshing, black/depression, plum/wounded, baby blue/mindfulness, navy/anxiety, emerald green/rescue, white/Holy Spirit.
David continues: ‘The key themes that I felt this reflection touched upon, were being mindful and having confidence to know that we can be rescued by God.’
Colour became a way of life for David back in 2004 when he was given a book called Colourful Prayer: a new way to pray when words are inadequate by Shelia Julian Merryweather.
In October 2005, David travelled to India to share colourful prayer at a youth conference, attended by around 300 young people.
Speaking in Reform in 2008, David said the colourful prayer became a unifying language that broke down barriers of understanding.
Picture 1: Young women praying. Balazs/Fotolia
Picture 2: Boldness. The Revd David Poulton
Published: 24 June 2019
