What in your life is fleeting—and what will endure? In Maria van Oosterwijck’s vanitas still life, symbols of death and beauty sit side by side, echoing Isaiah’s reminder that though flowers fade, God’s word stands forever. Through breath prayer and reflection, we look for eternity emerging from the fragile present moment.

Isaiah 40:6-8

Use this guide for prayer and contemplation. Read slowly, pausing as needed for silence and reflection.

Opening

Find a comfortable posture.

Let your shoulders soften, and unclench your jaw.

In preparation for this contemplation, let us focus on our breathing.

Draw in a breath until you are full and can take in no more air. Then let it out slowly, until it feels as though you have no more air to release.

And do this one more time. Deepest breath. Filled. And let it out until there’s no air left.

Stay here a moment.

Reflection on Contemplative Prayer

Today, let an image guide your prayer—an arrangement of ordinary things that quietly asks what lasts.

On first look, this kind of still life can sound a hard note: remember that you are mortal; you are made from dust, and to dust you shall return.

And yet, as you look more deeply, you may sense another invitation: the eternal can emerge from the mortal.

We cannot skip death and have only resurrection. A healthy spirituality holds both—honest about the woundedness of this world, and open to God’s life within it.

So let us acknowledge the here and now—its beauty and its pain—and ask for a deeper seeing.

Listen.

Scripture

Isaiah 40:6–8

A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I ask, “What shall I cry out?”

“All flesh is grass,
and all its glory like the flower of the field.

The grass withers,
the flower wilts,
when the breath of Adonai blows upon it—
surely the people are grass.

The grass withers,
the flower wilts,
but the word of our God stands forever.”

As you listen, return to your breath. Each breath is temporary, and yet it sustains your life.

See if you can feel your heartbeat—a pulse of life. In this present moment, ask God to help you listen for eternity.

Artwork for Prayerful Reflection

Vanitas Still Life with Sunflowers — Maria van Oosterwijck

Let us look at the painting. There is a lot to see here.

As you gaze, notice flowers about to bud and flowers that are wilting. Notice what speaks of life, and what speaks of death.

You may see the Ten Commandments written in Hebrew on stone tablets; a skull crowned with laurels resting on a sheet of paper with Scripture passages written in Dutch; fruit—one piece bitten, another whole; and an open treasure box of coins and pearls, marked with scenes of the Garden of Eden, the birth of Christ, and his crucifixion.

Where you see something temporary, ask God to show you what is lasting. The eternal can emerge from the mortal—resurrection in a butterfly, the lasting power of God’s commandments, the sacred-yet-to-come beginning even here.

Reflection Questions

As you gaze at this still life, what do you notice first?

What part of what you see feels temporary, meaningless, or as fleeting as a breath?

What part of what you see feels like lasting value—like treasure worth holding on to?

Where do you see the eternal emerging out of the temporary?

What in this painting might represent your mortality?

As you hold that symbol before God, what do you hear the Spirit saying about your life beyond the grave?

What moral lessons emerge for you as you gaze at these things?

What does the symbol you are drawn to tell you about what is important—and what is vanity?

What message does God have for you today about your life?

What might it look like to rest for a minute simply in God’s presence, and to let God explain all of these things to you?

Closing

God of dust and breath, teach us to live in the here and now with greater depth. Help us set aside our ego and our desire for approval, and draw deep from the well of divine grace. Let what we do come from that grace, and let your word stand in us forever. Amen.