It’s hard to believe Lent is less than a week away! It seems as if the Christmas season was only yesterday. One of the things I have discovered in my eight years of reviewing books is that during the Lent and Advent seasons, there is no shortage of fantastic resources to help build us spiritually during each of these seasons. That leads me to today’s book. Surrender All: An Illuminated Journal Retreat through the Stations of the Cross is a unique way to ponder and explore the stations this Lent.
Jen Norton is a contemporary Catholic artist who wrote this journal and created all the artwork as well. To say the artwork is beautiful is simply not doing it justice. The style of artwork Jen employees grabs you and won’t let go. Each illustration draws the reader into each station. Even more remarkable is the palette used. As Jen explains in the introduction of the book, each color has meaning. Red indicates pain, blue portrays God’s presence, natural tones symbolize “us”, black represents the cross and the weight of our sin, and white represents the Holy Spirit.
Knowing this brought a whole new meaning for me to the artwork throughout the book.
This book is more than just the impressive amount of art contained within its pages. There is plenty to like about this book, and it will be a companion throughout your Lenten observation and study. Each station opens with a scripture reading relative to the station. What follows is a reflection, most of which are a little under two pages in length. Following each reflection are the “meat and potatoes” of the book, a two-page guided journaling section. Closing out each of the fourteen stations is a brief prayer.
I am really looking forward to using this book this Lent. Yes, guys…men can journal too! The Stations of the Cross is one of the Catholic faith’s most well-known devotions. In Surrender All, author Jen Norton has brought depth to the devotion I have not encountered before.
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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
