Ten years ago my talented, visionary friends in New York City co-founded a socially engaged art collaborative called doeprojekts.org. Presently they are practicing “Mandalas for a time of Quarantine,” each day posting online a new mandala creation like the one above.

Mandala is the Sanskrit word for circle. In ancient Asian cultures, these circle shaped geometric designs were rich in symbolism. Externally, they were a visual representation of the universe. Inwardly, they are guides for meditation and prayer. In the Christian tradition, labyrinths are a kind of mandala.   But in contemporary American usage, the wordmandala can more loosely mean any circular ornament used as a tool for relaxation. Many popular adult coloring books, sold as a prescription for stress relief, feature pages and pages of mandala variations.

In the present state of emergency the small studio where I practice yoga each week is closed. The owner informed us in a newsletter with this picture in the heading:

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

In this realm I will only ever have partial knowledge, even of myself. But there is a realm in which I am known fully by God, and loved in full.