And Now This Holy doodle
In the beginning, a higher, more crafty power created scrapbooking. Somewhere around, say, the fifth day, coloring books for adults were brought forth. Now, a new and holier-than-the-others hobby has come to Earth: Bible journaling. Let there be color. While it seems sacrilegious to scribble in your Holy Bible, sketching, painting and even glorified graffiti on the sacred pages are no longer considered sins and are in fact sanctioned as a trend by blogs, Pinterest video tutorials, some church groups and instructional books such as the latest release, “Complete Guide to Bible Journaling: Creative Techniques to Express Your Faith,” by designer and inspirational speaker Joanne Fink. The idea is to draw your inspiration as you read — maybe coloring your version of Noah’s Ark, sketching the serpent that beguiled Eve and doomed us all, or just highlighting passages, adding flowers or hearts of joy. The practice is not as unusual as it sounds. Illuminated religious manuscripts date back hundreds of years with text adorned with initials, borders and illustrations. But since we’re in the 21st century, there’s of course a bunch of stuff you can buy for it. Things like special journaling Bibles for one, with wide margins or blank pages for your designs. There are Bible journaling kits from Embellish It, entire Bible journaling sections in craft stores, special gel pens, paints, elaborate rub-on crosses, tracing paper, workbooks, stickers, stamps … heaven help us.