Many thanks go to Heather for sending me this article:
Chocolate Jesus Exhibition Scrapped
These are the thoughts I shared on a thread...
Although I find it rather immature to see the Chocolate Jesus (My Sweet Lord) by Casimo Cavallaro as an attack on Christianity, I can in some ways understand why there are those of us -- that is, Christians -- who would find it offensive. Not everyone really likes to see reproductive organs, especially if our Savior is the bearer of such organs. This is why renaissance painters were often asked to edit their masterpieces (or, in most cases, they were edited without permission) by the church that commissioned them.
Perhaps we should look a little deeper at this situation than the superficial response that it is getting from just about everyone across the globe.
As a Christian and also as an artist, I am not offended by this sculpture and I do not see it as an attack against Christianity. Before you cry out heresy, here me out.
There is a beautiful relationship going on here with the symbolism of the chocolate. For most of people, chocolate is a candy favored by young and old. It is sweet and we would even say that we "love chocolate." I think chocolate is wonderful, personally. I also think the same thing about Jesus Christ - I love him and I think that He is wonderful. Granted, my "love" for chocolate is obliterated by my love for Christ, but that's not the point. Christ's sacrifice was meant for all, both young and old people, to bring them into a relationship with God because we are separated from God if we do not believe in Him. The sacrifice - the Crucifixion - was needed so that our sins could be atoned for.
Of course, there are those who don't believe this and find Jesus offensive. They do not favor that sort of theology, so they don't like Christianity. In the same way, however superficial, there are those who do not like chocolate, as shocking as that may seem.
More than just this... The idea of making Christ out of chocolate is beautiful because we eat chocolate. Now, we do not eat Jesus, per se -- although Catholic theology says otherwise.. I come out of a Protestant background... but this isn't about theological differences. There is a certain Christian practice called Communion that I'm sure many non-Christians are familiar with in some way. Bread represents Christ's Body and wine (or grape juice, depending on your church) represents his Blood. We are told to take and eat, and to take and drink, so that we shall never forget His Sacrifice. Could it be that the artist intended to echo this same practice in making the figure of Christ out of something that we eat?
Also, what of the nudeness of Cavallaro's depiction of a chocolate Christ? I couldn't imagine what his own personal reasons for making the piece are, let alone the nudeness. However, as someone else had pointed out, Christ was crucified naked...Jesus suffered physically, but I would say that He had also suffered further humiliation by being hung on a cross without beng covered. To the Hebrews, this was one of those types of humiliation that could have been worse than just getting killed. To cover up this fact -- indeed, by covering His body -- would be to cover up this truth. And to cover up truth is to say that it isn't important. I think that it is important, because Christ came in a human body. He came gender specific... he came as a man. Fully God and fully human.... which includes all the bits that we don't normally like to talk about.
But the human body is a wonderful, beautiful thing that God created. Do I want to see naked people all the time? No, not particularly. It is my sinful nature that wrestles me to think thoughts that I do not wish to think... it is not the naked body itself that makes me think those things. The body is not an evil thing... Sin is evil. Sin distorts, and thus far it has proven our society an unworthy adversary because our society says that a naked human body is either evil, or it is immediately connected to pornography and sex. But again, the body is not evil. God created man, and He created woman, and He said that what He had made was "good." Far be it from us to say that something God had created - to its minutest of details - is bad.
And with those thoughts shared, I am done. Do with these thoughts what you will.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
A complete and total side note: comments on MySpace advertisements
I hate all the advertisements on MySpace. A lot of them are just annoying, flashy, and asking me to shave some lady's legs (or more recently, Brittany's head) to win something I'll never get without jumping through hoops. However, there are others that I have HUGE issues with. ... And actually lead me to more broader thoughts than just MySpace.
1. All the models from Victoria Secret ads are totally airbrushed and altered, and it makes me want to frown. While I'm not necessarily all for Dove, this little film thing is interesting. http://youtube.com/watch?v=L_aDpmfAzxI
This brings into question, then: What is beauty? Is there such a thing as beautiful women who AREN'T altered, either literally or through digital imaging? I think this gives into a totally falsification to men and feeds into a fantasy of 'perfect women.' Granted, not all men are affected this way and I praise them for that, we need more of them around standing up against artificial portrayals of women. Don't believe me that there's an issue? Why is it, then, that companies like Victoria Secret feel like they have to airbrush every little thing on a woman's body? Why is it that comic books are so overrun by female characters with outlandish curves?
2. In my opinion, True.com is just a glorified version of prostitution. Now hear me out: the website says "love" but really all they're promoting is lust with their advertisements. The ones here on MySpace appear "tame" but I've seen others that are totally geared to rustle up some hook-ups and anything but love... typically at the same time exploiting women.. Which they are obviously trying to counter the claim by now portraying men in their ads. I'm not the only one to notice this. http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/columns/2005editorials/april2005.html
Which all of it actually brings into mind the media's definition of love and twisting sexual activity. How many times did Joey hop into bed with some boyfriend on Dawson's Creek, or the characters on the O.C., because the characters "loved each other?" They broke up how many times? Who didn't end up staying with who? The media often times suggests that love is an impulse, and in order to satisfy that impulse completely you have to have sex right now. If you don't - well, you're not really in love, you just thought you may have been. Or, after some time after sex, the relationship is terminated.
So, it's kind of like saying it's okay to just go out and hook-up with whoever and then call it a night. Or that it's okay to sleep with your boyfriend, even if you may end up breaking up after an indefinite amount of time. I think that sort of thing tears at the insides of a person, no matter how much they say they're okay with it and that they don't deal with feelings of having been used... that is to say, the occassional pang of feeling worthlessness or wanting recognition as a human being.
We're more than just the sum of our body parts, after all.
... So that's my two-cents, and the vehement dislike of those sorts of advertisements. I did go on a bit of a tangent, and it may not be altogether coherent, but that's what I've got for you. It rubs me the wrong way every time I see those ads.
1. All the models from Victoria Secret ads are totally airbrushed and altered, and it makes me want to frown. While I'm not necessarily all for Dove, this little film thing is interesting. http://youtube.com/watch?v=L_aDpmfAzxI
This brings into question, then: What is beauty? Is there such a thing as beautiful women who AREN'T altered, either literally or through digital imaging? I think this gives into a totally falsification to men and feeds into a fantasy of 'perfect women.' Granted, not all men are affected this way and I praise them for that, we need more of them around standing up against artificial portrayals of women. Don't believe me that there's an issue? Why is it, then, that companies like Victoria Secret feel like they have to airbrush every little thing on a woman's body? Why is it that comic books are so overrun by female characters with outlandish curves?
2. In my opinion, True.com is just a glorified version of prostitution. Now hear me out: the website says "love" but really all they're promoting is lust with their advertisements. The ones here on MySpace appear "tame" but I've seen others that are totally geared to rustle up some hook-ups and anything but love... typically at the same time exploiting women.. Which they are obviously trying to counter the claim by now portraying men in their ads. I'm not the only one to notice this. http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/columns/2005editorials/april2005.html
Which all of it actually brings into mind the media's definition of love and twisting sexual activity. How many times did Joey hop into bed with some boyfriend on Dawson's Creek, or the characters on the O.C., because the characters "loved each other?" They broke up how many times? Who didn't end up staying with who? The media often times suggests that love is an impulse, and in order to satisfy that impulse completely you have to have sex right now. If you don't - well, you're not really in love, you just thought you may have been. Or, after some time after sex, the relationship is terminated.
So, it's kind of like saying it's okay to just go out and hook-up with whoever and then call it a night. Or that it's okay to sleep with your boyfriend, even if you may end up breaking up after an indefinite amount of time. I think that sort of thing tears at the insides of a person, no matter how much they say they're okay with it and that they don't deal with feelings of having been used... that is to say, the occassional pang of feeling worthlessness or wanting recognition as a human being.
We're more than just the sum of our body parts, after all.
... So that's my two-cents, and the vehement dislike of those sorts of advertisements. I did go on a bit of a tangent, and it may not be altogether coherent, but that's what I've got for you. It rubs me the wrong way every time I see those ads.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Art Auction: v.1.0
So this is not exactly an overview of the auction but just a very quick response to it. I may write something more ... "official" later, but I'm not exactly the best when it comes to writing anything "official."
First and foremost: God has so amazingly blessed me with this evening.
The art auction up at the Church Studios, hosted by Olivet Covenant Presbyterian Church - "A Work in Progress" - was awesome. While I do not know all the details of how everything went, I'm very certain that the auction was a success. I do not know all the details because 85% of my time was spent in my studio interacting with and being social with the wanderers that would come in. ... I had the joy (note: mild anxiety) to come in when a handful of people were already there, and then even more came in, and I got to explain my process for the pieces I've made. And then scramble with my faithful assistant (note: Scott) to set some things up for better viewing. And then I got to very consistantly reiterate many things, but it was really great to have people ask about the works (and works-in-progress) and to discuss things with them. Apparently the pieces I've been working on, the lightboxes, is intriguing.
It was awesome.
Overall? I am floored, in the way in which my jaw ought to have been scooped up off the floor quite a few times. Besides being able to converse with individuals about my work, God also blessed me amazingly with one simple question asked by a few people: "So, are you selling any of your work?" This is not a question I was at all prepared for, nor one that I thought I would ever get asked.
Four out of six of the prints (etching, monotype, and collagraph) I put into the auction were bid on and taken, two or three that apparently had been bid over quite a few times, and one of which I had NO IDEA would be bid as high as it was.
Four prints (collagraph and etching) were sold right out of my studio.
... I don't know what to do with myself other than to say that God is so good. I am encouraged and humbled all in one stunned package. I pray that my brother artists in the Studios were so blessed by the event.
I am exhausted. Scott has left to go to Lansdale so he can go on a band adventure for the weekend. I think it's time for me to sleep.
First and foremost: God has so amazingly blessed me with this evening.
The art auction up at the Church Studios, hosted by Olivet Covenant Presbyterian Church - "A Work in Progress" - was awesome. While I do not know all the details of how everything went, I'm very certain that the auction was a success. I do not know all the details because 85% of my time was spent in my studio interacting with and being social with the wanderers that would come in. ... I had the joy (note: mild anxiety) to come in when a handful of people were already there, and then even more came in, and I got to explain my process for the pieces I've made. And then scramble with my faithful assistant (note: Scott) to set some things up for better viewing. And then I got to very consistantly reiterate many things, but it was really great to have people ask about the works (and works-in-progress) and to discuss things with them. Apparently the pieces I've been working on, the lightboxes, is intriguing.
It was awesome.
Overall? I am floored, in the way in which my jaw ought to have been scooped up off the floor quite a few times. Besides being able to converse with individuals about my work, God also blessed me amazingly with one simple question asked by a few people: "So, are you selling any of your work?" This is not a question I was at all prepared for, nor one that I thought I would ever get asked.
Four out of six of the prints (etching, monotype, and collagraph) I put into the auction were bid on and taken, two or three that apparently had been bid over quite a few times, and one of which I had NO IDEA would be bid as high as it was.
Four prints (collagraph and etching) were sold right out of my studio.
... I don't know what to do with myself other than to say that God is so good. I am encouraged and humbled all in one stunned package. I pray that my brother artists in the Studios were so blessed by the event.
I am exhausted. Scott has left to go to Lansdale so he can go on a band adventure for the weekend. I think it's time for me to sleep.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
DNA and Art
... I'm not sure what it is, but I find this very cool.
http://www.dna-art.com/index.html
It could be because I love anything to do with genetics and DNA and all that fun stuff. It kind of reminds me of an art form I heard about some years ago where an artist was using the deceased's ashes to make art.
Just thought I'd share.
http://www.dna-art.com/index.html
It could be because I love anything to do with genetics and DNA and all that fun stuff. It kind of reminds me of an art form I heard about some years ago where an artist was using the deceased's ashes to make art.
Just thought I'd share.
Monday, March 12, 2007
A poem fitting for the season
It's days like this that I sit in eager anticipation of the warmer seasons, and look forward to when everything is alive again.
Anticipating Equinox
Curled up tight in quiet hibernation,
young ones begin to feel the warmth
of the sun as he spreads his hands across the earth
All that he touches receives light and life,
even the shadows nod toward his splendor,
and night retreats from his path
Can you sense what they do,
the coming of equinox?
When those who sleep will be roused,
stretching limbs upward and downward;
when those in dark places will lift their heads
and be birthed as newborn babes-
It is then that colors take the stage
quiet at first in budding whispers
passing rumors of paintings so wonderful
that you and I long to behold merely days away
What is it that will come?
The sun follows his course and stays aloft,
coaxing children from the places they hide
Make yourself attentive;
can you hear their hymns?
Soft words of joy,
relinquished from a long, oppressive sleep
to crescendo forth into hues of praise
I cannot help but be captivated,
tempted toward rapture and carried away by their song,
and moved by their efforts to grasp light
Tiny fingers spread skyward,
longing to be free of mud, dirt, and darkness
Can you see their jubilant straining,
faces full of color and mouths full of song?
Can you empathize with their liberation?
YB 07 3 12
Anticipating Equinox
Curled up tight in quiet hibernation,
young ones begin to feel the warmth
of the sun as he spreads his hands across the earth
All that he touches receives light and life,
even the shadows nod toward his splendor,
and night retreats from his path
Can you sense what they do,
the coming of equinox?
When those who sleep will be roused,
stretching limbs upward and downward;
when those in dark places will lift their heads
and be birthed as newborn babes-
It is then that colors take the stage
quiet at first in budding whispers
passing rumors of paintings so wonderful
that you and I long to behold merely days away
What is it that will come?
The sun follows his course and stays aloft,
coaxing children from the places they hide
Make yourself attentive;
can you hear their hymns?
Soft words of joy,
relinquished from a long, oppressive sleep
to crescendo forth into hues of praise
I cannot help but be captivated,
tempted toward rapture and carried away by their song,
and moved by their efforts to grasp light
Tiny fingers spread skyward,
longing to be free of mud, dirt, and darkness
Can you see their jubilant straining,
faces full of color and mouths full of song?
Can you empathize with their liberation?
YB 07 3 12
Friday, March 09, 2007
Community
I've noticed an interesting trend through my journal entries over the past month that anything with actual substance has been fairly cynical. Truth be told, I do have a cynical edge in my life that has yet to be fully worn down by the Holy Spirit; it's not exactly one of my favored characteristics. And apparently at 1AM and after reading both Adam's and Al's recent blog entries, I feel compelled to write about something that has more substance and is less critical of the world around me. It's time to scurry to my little thinking place and put out some reflections.
Manna is the bible study/discussion group that I'm taking under my wing in part with CCO co-worker (and consequently, whose family I live with) Andy Campbell at University of the Arts, and since I showed up this semester we've been going through a book that I am convinced ought to be mandatory reading material for anyone interested in the arts and happens to be a Christian. Needless to say, I'm very excited to finally talk to people about it who jive with the arts, since it's one thing to talk about it to non-arty people, and totally a different thing to talk about it with arty people. The book: It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God. Tonight's chapter (article) was written by David Giardiniere, and all about Community. Of course the article's slant is toward artists of all shapes and sizes, but reading about community reminds me about how passionate I am about community and belonging to a community.
As being made in imago dei, the image of God, means that human beings are inherently relational creatures. God is a relational being: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. He is the perfect and holy image that we have of unity and community being Three in One. God also seeks to have community and relationships with His creatures. It makes sense, then, that we would be relational; we are made to have community first with the Lord and also with other human beings. How beautiful it is when people come together with the same heart and purpose, to become a sort of family. As Christians, we are called to this.
Paul frequently talks about the individual Christian being part of a bigger community through the imagery of anatomy: we are all parts of the larger body. We are members, not in the sense of Status, but in the sense of Organs. It is vital for the "members" or organs of the human body to be working in community and unity wth the other organs of the body, while at the same time retaining its unique job and characteristics. For it cannot be so that an eye would decide to be a hand, or that a hand would decide to be a leg and neither can these things work independently from the rest of the body. You don't have to take an anatomy class to know that the human body just doesn't function that way. It is the same with us as believers in Jesus Christ. We need each other in order to encourage, build up, rebuke, pray for, challenge, and push each other towards God. I believe that this is primarily found in church communities.
This is something that has been on my mind for several weeks now, primarily because I currently feel at a loss as to where my place is in Philadelphia. I've lived here for about two months and I have yet to really find a solid, consistent group of individuals who can be my "transplant" family -- and I use the word transplant loosely, since I've moved on from the community I knew for four and a half years. I hunger and long for the sort of community I've just described above. And I do not use "hunger" and "long for" lightly. I need a church body to belong to, not for some trite fulfilment or simple satiation to be with people, but so that I can be encouraged, challenged, and pushed towards God.
The Lord has been good to me, however, in placing me in a city where I do know some people and He has also provided some awesome connections with people that have the potential to lead to very strong community. I have been very blessed to be around awesome people from time to time.
However that does not negate the fact that I still need to be integrated into a church. I'm unsure what my struggle up to this point has been, since I had been attending a younger church (Liberti Church) just up the street from me for a while before I actually moved here. February left me with barely any Sundays to explore other churches - so February was actually a little dreadful in some regards. Every time I thought about my need for community, a lump would quickly form in the pit of my throat; even now, there is an ache. This actually brings up a funny story: this past Sunday as I was ready to go to a different church, I discovered that my car was parked in. So, that left me with Liberti Church, which I have been unsure of going to all through February. All the way there, I had to pray and ask for a heart that would be open to what He would have for me there because it was clear I was going there for a reason that morning.
While the sermon was excellent and all about reliability and dependability (something I'd love to write more about later), I suppose the most striking thing was that one of the pastors listed some things that their church was all about. The funny part is that I wholly agreed with each of the things that Liberti is all about as a church, perhaps especially worship, community, and campus ministry.
Is this the community God has set up for me to be a part of? I'm not sure... but I do know that I had to also ask myself, "Why am I not going to this church? I agree with all these things." Perhaps, then, it is where I am meant to be integrated. Perhaps I should just bite the lip of my fears and submerge myself in this body of brothers and sisters and allow myself to be a part of a new community... because as surely as I live and breathe, I do think that I am afraid to start fresh. But despite that fear I know I need and hunger for it. I know how essential it is for me to be connected because I cannot function fully--as being made in the image of God--without that community and those relationships.
We shall see, I suppose. Prayerfully, the Lord will push me in the direction I need to go. I need to be pushed, face forward, so that all of my hesitancy is lost to the wind.
... And with that in mind, it is time for me to go to sleep.
Manna is the bible study/discussion group that I'm taking under my wing in part with CCO co-worker (and consequently, whose family I live with) Andy Campbell at University of the Arts, and since I showed up this semester we've been going through a book that I am convinced ought to be mandatory reading material for anyone interested in the arts and happens to be a Christian. Needless to say, I'm very excited to finally talk to people about it who jive with the arts, since it's one thing to talk about it to non-arty people, and totally a different thing to talk about it with arty people. The book: It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God. Tonight's chapter (article) was written by David Giardiniere, and all about Community. Of course the article's slant is toward artists of all shapes and sizes, but reading about community reminds me about how passionate I am about community and belonging to a community.
As being made in imago dei, the image of God, means that human beings are inherently relational creatures. God is a relational being: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. He is the perfect and holy image that we have of unity and community being Three in One. God also seeks to have community and relationships with His creatures. It makes sense, then, that we would be relational; we are made to have community first with the Lord and also with other human beings. How beautiful it is when people come together with the same heart and purpose, to become a sort of family. As Christians, we are called to this.
Paul frequently talks about the individual Christian being part of a bigger community through the imagery of anatomy: we are all parts of the larger body. We are members, not in the sense of Status, but in the sense of Organs. It is vital for the "members" or organs of the human body to be working in community and unity wth the other organs of the body, while at the same time retaining its unique job and characteristics. For it cannot be so that an eye would decide to be a hand, or that a hand would decide to be a leg and neither can these things work independently from the rest of the body. You don't have to take an anatomy class to know that the human body just doesn't function that way. It is the same with us as believers in Jesus Christ. We need each other in order to encourage, build up, rebuke, pray for, challenge, and push each other towards God. I believe that this is primarily found in church communities.
This is something that has been on my mind for several weeks now, primarily because I currently feel at a loss as to where my place is in Philadelphia. I've lived here for about two months and I have yet to really find a solid, consistent group of individuals who can be my "transplant" family -- and I use the word transplant loosely, since I've moved on from the community I knew for four and a half years. I hunger and long for the sort of community I've just described above. And I do not use "hunger" and "long for" lightly. I need a church body to belong to, not for some trite fulfilment or simple satiation to be with people, but so that I can be encouraged, challenged, and pushed towards God.
The Lord has been good to me, however, in placing me in a city where I do know some people and He has also provided some awesome connections with people that have the potential to lead to very strong community. I have been very blessed to be around awesome people from time to time.
However that does not negate the fact that I still need to be integrated into a church. I'm unsure what my struggle up to this point has been, since I had been attending a younger church (Liberti Church) just up the street from me for a while before I actually moved here. February left me with barely any Sundays to explore other churches - so February was actually a little dreadful in some regards. Every time I thought about my need for community, a lump would quickly form in the pit of my throat; even now, there is an ache. This actually brings up a funny story: this past Sunday as I was ready to go to a different church, I discovered that my car was parked in. So, that left me with Liberti Church, which I have been unsure of going to all through February. All the way there, I had to pray and ask for a heart that would be open to what He would have for me there because it was clear I was going there for a reason that morning.
While the sermon was excellent and all about reliability and dependability (something I'd love to write more about later), I suppose the most striking thing was that one of the pastors listed some things that their church was all about. The funny part is that I wholly agreed with each of the things that Liberti is all about as a church, perhaps especially worship, community, and campus ministry.
Is this the community God has set up for me to be a part of? I'm not sure... but I do know that I had to also ask myself, "Why am I not going to this church? I agree with all these things." Perhaps, then, it is where I am meant to be integrated. Perhaps I should just bite the lip of my fears and submerge myself in this body of brothers and sisters and allow myself to be a part of a new community... because as surely as I live and breathe, I do think that I am afraid to start fresh. But despite that fear I know I need and hunger for it. I know how essential it is for me to be connected because I cannot function fully--as being made in the image of God--without that community and those relationships.
We shall see, I suppose. Prayerfully, the Lord will push me in the direction I need to go. I need to be pushed, face forward, so that all of my hesitancy is lost to the wind.
... And with that in mind, it is time for me to go to sleep.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Consumable Quote
This is off of a Starbucks cup from a month ago. ... yes, I still have the cup; no, there wasn't anything in it. Yes, now that I have the quote written down somewhere, I will throw away the cup. In the mean time I wanted to share this because I thought it was neat.
The Way I See It #153
Is art entertainment?
Art teaches us about who we are.
Entertainment tells us who to be.
Art is a public service.
Entertainment is a private product.
Art opens our minds.
Entertainment thinks for you.
Art is publicly offered.
Entertainment is publicly traded.
Art is the words we wish to say, but lack the language to say it.
-Justin Dillon, from the band Tremolo
I'm checking out the band now, and I have to admit that I actually like it. Good job, Mr. Justin.
The Way I See It #153
Is art entertainment?
Art teaches us about who we are.
Entertainment tells us who to be.
Art is a public service.
Entertainment is a private product.
Art opens our minds.
Entertainment thinks for you.
Art is publicly offered.
Entertainment is publicly traded.
Art is the words we wish to say, but lack the language to say it.
-Justin Dillon, from the band Tremolo
I'm checking out the band now, and I have to admit that I actually like it. Good job, Mr. Justin.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
The annoyance of sickness and sleep
At an undesirable hour of the night, I cough and sniffle and cough some more in ways that I am wholly unable to suppress. Trying to stifle the urge to cough more, I roll over on my side and attempt to bury my head into my pillow. No good; the stuffiness of my sinuses already inhibits breathing, so being nestled into a pillow is not exactly the best way to get oxygen. In frustration I turn over on my sid,e remaining uncomfortable in all sorts of ways and simply unable to settle. I breathe in and sigh—only to have my chest seize the opportunity to cough more. The nape of my neck is damp with sweat, yet to crawl out from beneath the covers would leave me cold and desiring warmth. This is not exactly the ideal situation when I want to get some rest.
I look at the clock. 3:13 AM. I’ve slept about six hours at this point, which is pretty routine for me, but I was hoping to sleep ten hours to knock out the sickness I’ve come to wrestle with. I attempt to sleep again, the coughing having subsided just long enough to trick me. Then, I’m stirred again with a very brief fit of coughing and the clock reads 3:45 AM. I stare into the darkness towards my ceiling, trying to hash out with God why I can’t sleep.
It started out harmless. All I had was a little bit of congestion, little bit of a scratchy throat… Now, four days later, it’s an all-out assault on my respiratory system with no prisoners taken: Cough, scratchy throat, stuffy ears, stuffy—and runny—nose. Headache. My insides feel squeamish, yet that could just be due to the fact that it’s so early in the morning and I’m not ready to be this awake. Clock now reads 5:18 AM. At least I’ve been able to kill some time on the computer, completing a poem, while trying to figure out why in the world God would have me awake at this, seemingly, ungodly hour. I’m still trying to figure it out.. In the mean time, coughing seems to have subsided… that’s a good sign, unless it’s trying to trick me all over again. Sickness can be so cruel in its teasing.
The Comissioned
Nestled individuals, settled and cozy
among the woodlands of glass and steel,
just within arm's reach
and close enough to feel its city-breath
and waiting for the harvest-
She stands before the unknown.
Near-sighted and fumbling through a saturated faith;
it's more than a fidgety feeling
when you're standing in the daybreak of twenty-three.
Longing to see the fires of glory,
red and yellow and white hues
bringing to light all that isn't seen by men--
As though gripped by the innards
by something that won't relent...
In the same manner as the purple, velvety richness of night
when punctured by a million stars and satellites
Captured by a beauty held east to west,
and setting her hands to eclipse her face,
she is brought to nothing.
Cacooned in God's grace
being made perfect, holy, and pure
for the day his face will be seen -
perfect and holy and pure -
He sees colors so fantastic
which have never graced mankind.
She sees fruits and grains desperate for harvest,
heavy for more than just the field they stand in,
bowed with burdens unseen, unheard
Yet where are the harvesters?
Do they wonder what it must be like
to taste the colors that we have yet to know?
Do they ponder what it must have been like,
seeing now only an Eden shrouded in fog?
Hearts aching for a day yet to be revealed,
and she hears their silent longing
She comes to serve, desirous of unblemished humility,
though struggling to spread wide her palms-
torn between faith and fear of the unknown
yet burdened for the sights and sounds of hallelujah
YB 07 3 4
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Mooshy-gooshy
Okay, so, I went to the IAM Conference this past weekend and I WILL write something about it at some point (if nothing else, at least post visual art that spawns out of the inspiration to ART), but I also got to visit with Scott for a couple of days. So this is what happened...
Inspiration for creativity + God's awesomeness + Scott = Motivation for creativity + explosion of endearment
I try to keep math simple. I'm sure there are a number of other factors I could toss in there, but this isn't about mathematics. This is about poetry. Enjoy.
Proximate
No TV sound or ambience,
you woman, young man,
sitting in liberating silence-
a quiet scarcely breached
save for calm, regulated sleepy breathing
Forehead to forehead,
his nose neighboring her own,
and palms cradling cheeks.
Yet, even in this proximity,
lips never trespass what we've sworn,
strangers to each other
'lest wedding vows are spoken
And in this place, in this solace,
a peace grows between us
like a tender shoot young with life,
nurtured by the Son of David
and giving form to greater grace.
Gentle, tender, soothing
I feel no danger in this place
Who is this man,
mirroring through speckled imperfect glass,
the image of God?
Though incomparable with the face of Glory,
what a gift this is that I've recieved.
Hand cradling her cheek,
gentle strokes soothe her weary bones
The palm of the Spirit warms her
and she is captivated.
YB07 2 26
Inspiration for creativity + God's awesomeness + Scott = Motivation for creativity + explosion of endearment
I try to keep math simple. I'm sure there are a number of other factors I could toss in there, but this isn't about mathematics. This is about poetry. Enjoy.
Proximate
No TV sound or ambience,
you woman, young man,
sitting in liberating silence-
a quiet scarcely breached
save for calm, regulated sleepy breathing
Forehead to forehead,
his nose neighboring her own,
and palms cradling cheeks.
Yet, even in this proximity,
lips never trespass what we've sworn,
strangers to each other
'lest wedding vows are spoken
And in this place, in this solace,
a peace grows between us
like a tender shoot young with life,
nurtured by the Son of David
and giving form to greater grace.
Gentle, tender, soothing
I feel no danger in this place
Who is this man,
mirroring through speckled imperfect glass,
the image of God?
Though incomparable with the face of Glory,
what a gift this is that I've recieved.
Hand cradling her cheek,
gentle strokes soothe her weary bones
The palm of the Spirit warms her
and she is captivated.
YB07 2 26
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Look ahead towards March!
A WORK IN PROGRESS: Open Studios & Art Auction
Friday, March 23, 2007
At the Church Studios at Olivet Covenant Presbyterian Church,
22nd and Mt. Vernon Streets
Silent Auction of original works, affordably priced,
as well as gift certificates to local cultural events
Preview at 7:00, Bidding from 7:30-9:30
Complimentary hors d’oeuvres. Limited, free onsite parking
Proceeds benefit the Church Studios and the CCO
The CCO partners with colleges, churches and organizations to develop
men and women who live out their Christian faith in every area of life.
Info: Rebecca Wainwright, rwainwright@ccojubilee.org, 215.232.8393
transforming college students to transform the world
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Crowded
For those of you folks who don't know, I highly enjoy the David Crowder band. Their music is fantastic. I've been listening to Can You Hear Us several times over the past two days, which runs with my habit of listening constantly to the other CDs of theirs that I have, and I think I've come to a conclusion: David Crowder is my favorite band. This is profound because, if you don't know, I've always had a hard time nailing down ONE band as a favorite... and while all those other bands I ever list are also my favorite bands, I think it's safe for me to say that I have one that sits above them all -- and that's pretty much judging it by how often I listen to my CDs. They're starting to get beat up from me listening to them so much (thank goodness I have them saved on my computer now!). If nothing else, David Crowder is my favorite declared-Christian-band.
Anyway. That's a tangent thought. I actually just wanted to share lyrics that aren't by David Crowder, but it's a song he did a rendition of that particularly gripped me yesterday as I was driving back to Philadelphia in the morning, even though I've heard it many times before.... I first heard it by Delirious? , and it grabbed me back then too.
And then some that actually are David Crowder:
Anyway. That's a tangent thought. I actually just wanted to share lyrics that aren't by David Crowder, but it's a song he did a rendition of that particularly gripped me yesterday as I was driving back to Philadelphia in the morning, even though I've heard it many times before.... I first heard it by Delirious? , and it grabbed me back then too.
What can I do with my obsession?
With the things I cannot see
Is there madness in my being?
Is it wind that blows the trees?
Sometimes you're further than the moon
Sometimes you're closer than my skin
And you surround me like a winter fog
You've come and burned me with a kiss
And my heart burns for you
And my heart burns
And I'm so filthy with my sin
I carry pride like a disease
You know I'm stubborn God and I'm longing
to be close
You burn me deeper than I know
I feel lonely without hope
I feel desperate without vision
You wrap around me like a winter coat
You come and free me like a bird
And my heart burns for you
And my heart burns for youAnd then some that actually are David Crowder:
I need words
As wide as sky
I need language wide as
This longing inside
And I need a voice
Bigger than mine
And I need a song to sing you
That I've yet to find
I need you, oh
I need you
I need you, oh
I need you
To be here now
To be here now
To here me now
To here me now
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Retracing steps
I've been thinking a lot about my last post involving art and how jaded I seem to be against stereotypical 'Christian art.' Truth is, I'm pretty jaded against anything I precieve as overtly cute, idealistic, or utopian in nature that is purposed to be taken seriously.
Granted, let it be known that I've had my fair share of your stereotypical Christian art come out of my hands (with scripture scrawled, etc), and you can see plenty of examples of it at my DA art pile --> pandalemur.deviantart.com. The difference I'm trying to make is that I've been learning not to take those drawings and whatnot seriously. They aren't drawings I have any desire to be put into a gallery or in any sort of setting like that, but rather they are gifts to Christian friends and they can do whatever they want with them. Nevermind that sometimes I even annoy myself with that.
I suppose the use of crosses and icthuses in contemporary Christian art -- that is, the kind you see in bookstores -- is annoying to me because I feel like the theological and historical (respectively) meaning of each symbol is dumbed down or not even thought about. The cross is the place of suffering so we could have life, and I can't take a pink cross with little flowers as that... and the icthus could've been considered a secret-society symbol, so Christians could identify each other silently, and now it's all over the place like a tool of commercialism. Perhaps that's just the thing: I'm annoyed by the way half of American Christianity has become so commercial and consumeristic.
I will say one thing about some decorative art, "christian" or otherwise: I can give some credit to the skill they implement when painting. There is plenty of cottage paintings and eagle paintings that are infinitely better than anything I can do, but that's because it's not the kind of art I do. I have a hard time making things look remotely photographic. The skill and patience to do that is amazing; but this stands for any sort of art, not just those cottage-eagle-Christian paintings found in bookstores.
As for the mysterious stuff I was talking about, I realize not all art has to be mysterious in nature........ perhaps that's my head overflowing and giving fodder to my own ideas and mode of creating. As I was thinking about it the other day, I realized that opinion is heavily reflected in my own art; that there is suffering and I think the suffering should be represented but also weaved with beauty, hope, and redemption. I play with the ideas of bondage and freedom quite a bit (and this I didn't realize until a year ago, when my professor pointed it out to me). The idea of suffering as necessary for growth and life is an idea that grips my bones, convincing me that it is equally necessary to acknowledge that dynamic. True, that while although not everything in the world is beautiful all the time, there certainly are beautiful things in the world that deserve recognition - and as a follower of Christ, it's those things my mind is meant to dwell on. Yet I would not know what the truly beautiful things were if I did not also acknowledge what the ugly things were. I need to know what is bad to appreciate that which is good.
But anyway.
Now that I've explained myself and expounded on my thoughts a little bit, it's time to get lunch.
Y
Granted, let it be known that I've had my fair share of your stereotypical Christian art come out of my hands (with scripture scrawled, etc), and you can see plenty of examples of it at my DA art pile --> pandalemur.deviantart.com. The difference I'm trying to make is that I've been learning not to take those drawings and whatnot seriously. They aren't drawings I have any desire to be put into a gallery or in any sort of setting like that, but rather they are gifts to Christian friends and they can do whatever they want with them. Nevermind that sometimes I even annoy myself with that.
I suppose the use of crosses and icthuses in contemporary Christian art -- that is, the kind you see in bookstores -- is annoying to me because I feel like the theological and historical (respectively) meaning of each symbol is dumbed down or not even thought about. The cross is the place of suffering so we could have life, and I can't take a pink cross with little flowers as that... and the icthus could've been considered a secret-society symbol, so Christians could identify each other silently, and now it's all over the place like a tool of commercialism. Perhaps that's just the thing: I'm annoyed by the way half of American Christianity has become so commercial and consumeristic.
I will say one thing about some decorative art, "christian" or otherwise: I can give some credit to the skill they implement when painting. There is plenty of cottage paintings and eagle paintings that are infinitely better than anything I can do, but that's because it's not the kind of art I do. I have a hard time making things look remotely photographic. The skill and patience to do that is amazing; but this stands for any sort of art, not just those cottage-eagle-Christian paintings found in bookstores.
As for the mysterious stuff I was talking about, I realize not all art has to be mysterious in nature........ perhaps that's my head overflowing and giving fodder to my own ideas and mode of creating. As I was thinking about it the other day, I realized that opinion is heavily reflected in my own art; that there is suffering and I think the suffering should be represented but also weaved with beauty, hope, and redemption. I play with the ideas of bondage and freedom quite a bit (and this I didn't realize until a year ago, when my professor pointed it out to me). The idea of suffering as necessary for growth and life is an idea that grips my bones, convincing me that it is equally necessary to acknowledge that dynamic. True, that while although not everything in the world is beautiful all the time, there certainly are beautiful things in the world that deserve recognition - and as a follower of Christ, it's those things my mind is meant to dwell on. Yet I would not know what the truly beautiful things were if I did not also acknowledge what the ugly things were. I need to know what is bad to appreciate that which is good.
But anyway.
Now that I've explained myself and expounded on my thoughts a little bit, it's time to get lunch.
Y
Friday, February 02, 2007
Tempted to chase the pigeons.
So, I've been here in the city for three weeks today. It's fantastic.... it's funny how I keep having the urge to chase the pigeouns when I come across them though.
Also, I will be frank: the beginning of this week hit me with the gut realization that, "I live an hour plus away from friends and my church family, and my family. It's going to be a long time before I will see most of them again." Overall, though? I would say I'm holding up pretty well but it's been rough not feeling settled into a church, yet. I'm hungry for community, and although I'd been attending Liberti for a while now and I love it there, I haven't settled into community. What I'm going to end up doing, then, is moving on from Liberti's church service and checking out some other churches. I just started going to a Liberti homegroup, and I plan to continue to attend because I need some kind of stable community as I go through this. At least, that's what my thought process is. Prayerfully, God will have me settled somewhere soon. I really should've started doing this by now.
At any rate, there are so many things that I would LOVE-LOVE-LOVE to rattle on about. Things like going through Psalms with Scott; or Art and how a lot of "Christian art" is just plain bad art; or the unique and strange passion to go into a place where I know my Jesus is hated; or even the frustrations I have with Christians who don't respect the world God has created.
I wouldn't even know where to start. I've been engaged in so many beautiful discussions that I could just explode. (in a good way) I suppose the best thing for me to do is to do brief little servings of each mentioned topic, although more certainly abound in this little noggin of mine.
Reading Psalms with Scott has been such a blessing to me. See, Scott and I typically talk on the phone every night. I don't know why we talk on the phone ever night, besides the fact that we're in a relationship and I enjoy carrying a conversation with him for hours. Anyway. As a result of our lengthy conversations, we decided it would be good to read a Psalm and talk about it before ending the call. You know what's awesome? It's awesome to be able to see and hear of the goodness of God; how great He is and how little we are; and how amazing it is to be able to express a full range of emotion to Him. I've gone through Psalms before, but there's something extraordinary about being able to discuss the Word and the goodness of God with another human being whose heartbeat is for the Lord. Because it is in my thoughts on a daily basis, it encourages me to share that goodness with other people and causes my heart to yearn more compassionately for those who do not know Christ.
Christian art, for those who don't know, has this way about it to come across as bad art. While I am sure that kitsche and decorative art has it's place in the world (much to my chagrin), too much of "Christian art" is of its variety. Paintings of cottages or lighthouses with Scripture scrawled across the bottom, Precious Moments dolls, or other such things are the end product of a desire for an unattainable utopia. Or it has a overtly Christian message that basically tells you how to look at the art. Or there's overused symbology of crosses and icthuses (the 'Jesus Fish'). Christian art has the reputation for giving off warm-fuzzies, and it's those warm-fuzzies that just rub me the wrong way. I suppose that this is equally true of non-Christian art of the same nature that create a sense of 'all is well in the world, everything is beautiful all the time.' Fact of the matter is that the world is not beautiful all the time. There are downright awful things in the world, from physical events to psychology, and to ignore such is to live in world washed in falsehood. Not only that, but to have a blatant message or agenda is to destroy the mystery that can be so characterstic of much of art today. You have it there, but it's a matter of figuring out how to put it there without making it too easy to find. Kind of like a Where's Waldo? book. Waldo's there, but there are so many other characters to discover in the process of looking for Waldo. If Waldo's too easy to find, it gets boring real quick.
I like to think that God is all for mystery, too. There's something mysterious about our relationship to Him and being indwelt by the Holy Spirit... And, there's always something to discover and learn.
But as for the beautiful... To appreciate beauty, real honest to goodness beauty, I think you have to learn to appreciate and recognize that which is not beautiful. Sometimes, as a creative person, you have to expose that non-beauty. However, as a Christian creative person, I think it's also important to weave in expressions of hope and beauty into that non-beauty and despair. There's a message of hope and that the world can be beautiful, but it's not blatant. Hope and beauty often times comes up in the most unlikely of places: think, for instance, of the Cross. Christ is the hope out of despair, and the One that brings beauty into life; and yet His suffering and death -- which was completely necessary for our salvation -- was not exactly what you would call a beautiful thing. The Jews had been looking for their Messiah as a man of great standing and as a majestic early King... Jesus came in a lowly state, humility, and recieved a criminal's death penalty. Of course, He was resurrected into glory and splendor.. But beauty and hope came from the least likely of places.
... I suppose that's enough for me to write about for now. The other two things I could rattle on about I can get to another day. I'll leave you with that to chew on.
Y
Also, I will be frank: the beginning of this week hit me with the gut realization that, "I live an hour plus away from friends and my church family, and my family. It's going to be a long time before I will see most of them again." Overall, though? I would say I'm holding up pretty well but it's been rough not feeling settled into a church, yet. I'm hungry for community, and although I'd been attending Liberti for a while now and I love it there, I haven't settled into community. What I'm going to end up doing, then, is moving on from Liberti's church service and checking out some other churches. I just started going to a Liberti homegroup, and I plan to continue to attend because I need some kind of stable community as I go through this. At least, that's what my thought process is. Prayerfully, God will have me settled somewhere soon. I really should've started doing this by now.
At any rate, there are so many things that I would LOVE-LOVE-LOVE to rattle on about. Things like going through Psalms with Scott; or Art and how a lot of "Christian art" is just plain bad art; or the unique and strange passion to go into a place where I know my Jesus is hated; or even the frustrations I have with Christians who don't respect the world God has created.
I wouldn't even know where to start. I've been engaged in so many beautiful discussions that I could just explode. (in a good way) I suppose the best thing for me to do is to do brief little servings of each mentioned topic, although more certainly abound in this little noggin of mine.
Reading Psalms with Scott has been such a blessing to me. See, Scott and I typically talk on the phone every night. I don't know why we talk on the phone ever night, besides the fact that we're in a relationship and I enjoy carrying a conversation with him for hours. Anyway. As a result of our lengthy conversations, we decided it would be good to read a Psalm and talk about it before ending the call. You know what's awesome? It's awesome to be able to see and hear of the goodness of God; how great He is and how little we are; and how amazing it is to be able to express a full range of emotion to Him. I've gone through Psalms before, but there's something extraordinary about being able to discuss the Word and the goodness of God with another human being whose heartbeat is for the Lord. Because it is in my thoughts on a daily basis, it encourages me to share that goodness with other people and causes my heart to yearn more compassionately for those who do not know Christ.
Christian art, for those who don't know, has this way about it to come across as bad art. While I am sure that kitsche and decorative art has it's place in the world (much to my chagrin), too much of "Christian art" is of its variety. Paintings of cottages or lighthouses with Scripture scrawled across the bottom, Precious Moments dolls, or other such things are the end product of a desire for an unattainable utopia. Or it has a overtly Christian message that basically tells you how to look at the art. Or there's overused symbology of crosses and icthuses (the 'Jesus Fish'). Christian art has the reputation for giving off warm-fuzzies, and it's those warm-fuzzies that just rub me the wrong way. I suppose that this is equally true of non-Christian art of the same nature that create a sense of 'all is well in the world, everything is beautiful all the time.' Fact of the matter is that the world is not beautiful all the time. There are downright awful things in the world, from physical events to psychology, and to ignore such is to live in world washed in falsehood. Not only that, but to have a blatant message or agenda is to destroy the mystery that can be so characterstic of much of art today. You have it there, but it's a matter of figuring out how to put it there without making it too easy to find. Kind of like a Where's Waldo? book. Waldo's there, but there are so many other characters to discover in the process of looking for Waldo. If Waldo's too easy to find, it gets boring real quick.
I like to think that God is all for mystery, too. There's something mysterious about our relationship to Him and being indwelt by the Holy Spirit... And, there's always something to discover and learn.
But as for the beautiful... To appreciate beauty, real honest to goodness beauty, I think you have to learn to appreciate and recognize that which is not beautiful. Sometimes, as a creative person, you have to expose that non-beauty. However, as a Christian creative person, I think it's also important to weave in expressions of hope and beauty into that non-beauty and despair. There's a message of hope and that the world can be beautiful, but it's not blatant. Hope and beauty often times comes up in the most unlikely of places: think, for instance, of the Cross. Christ is the hope out of despair, and the One that brings beauty into life; and yet His suffering and death -- which was completely necessary for our salvation -- was not exactly what you would call a beautiful thing. The Jews had been looking for their Messiah as a man of great standing and as a majestic early King... Jesus came in a lowly state, humility, and recieved a criminal's death penalty. Of course, He was resurrected into glory and splendor.. But beauty and hope came from the least likely of places.
... I suppose that's enough for me to write about for now. The other two things I could rattle on about I can get to another day. I'll leave you with that to chew on.
Y
Monday, January 15, 2007
Verticality and itching fingers
I've stepped into a new phase in my life: city life. Everything is upwards; I live on the third floor, and my art studio down the street also happens to be on the third floor. Plus, everything I could ever want or need is pretty much within walking distance... Before I know it, I'll have legs of steel. Until then, I'll be feeling the ill effects of an out-of-shape cardiovascular system.
I've only been here for about three days, but I'm amazed at how comfortable I am already. I'm not sure where certain things are, like the post office or office supply store, but I do know where the grocery store is. That's a start, right? I'm living with a co-worker and his wife and kids, although the first ten days here will be spent alone.
In some ways, that's kind of nice. I get the house to myself... no hustle and bustle. I can sit in silence and not get distracted by being social -- which is all too easily done. However, on the flipside of the coin it would be great to have someone to be social with. Today I felt a small pang of loneliness; I didn't see a single person today, mostly because my chores kept me indoors all day. I also saw some friends yesterday that I know I won't be seeing again for quite a while. But ah, tomorrow- tomorrow I will be out for most of the day.
I can't wait.
Tomorrow I will be meeting up with a grad student at PAFA and he's going to show me around the school. After that I will be joining him in his weekly prayer group, and I'll get to meet more people. Awesome.
The great thing the location of where I'm living right now is that my art studio is just a five minute walk down the street. Every fiber in my being wants to spend time there pretty much every day this week, so my hope and aim is to spend some hours there in the mornings starting tomorrow. There are a number of ideas whirling around in my head, but a more recent one will have my attention first and foremost because it will be the easiest to execute. The others are still rattling around in there, restless, but they'll get to come out and play soon enough. It'll just take some time to adjust and get things organized in the studio space.
Part of my creative efforts left me perusing through animal skulls and taxidermy on eBay earlier today -- perhaps for more time than I really should have spent doing that. Part of me thinks it strange to want to build up a collection of animal skulls and taxidermy (specifically, bird wings), but you know what, unless I learn the art of taxidermy myself it's the only way I think I'm going to be able to really study and draw these things. Typically it's from photographs, and I can only go so far with doing that.
I'm not sure where this fascination will lead me in my artwork, but I'm excited for it.
With that in mind, I'm going back to eBay to see if I can snipe a starling pelt.
I've only been here for about three days, but I'm amazed at how comfortable I am already. I'm not sure where certain things are, like the post office or office supply store, but I do know where the grocery store is. That's a start, right? I'm living with a co-worker and his wife and kids, although the first ten days here will be spent alone.
In some ways, that's kind of nice. I get the house to myself... no hustle and bustle. I can sit in silence and not get distracted by being social -- which is all too easily done. However, on the flipside of the coin it would be great to have someone to be social with. Today I felt a small pang of loneliness; I didn't see a single person today, mostly because my chores kept me indoors all day. I also saw some friends yesterday that I know I won't be seeing again for quite a while. But ah, tomorrow- tomorrow I will be out for most of the day.
I can't wait.
Tomorrow I will be meeting up with a grad student at PAFA and he's going to show me around the school. After that I will be joining him in his weekly prayer group, and I'll get to meet more people. Awesome.
The great thing the location of where I'm living right now is that my art studio is just a five minute walk down the street. Every fiber in my being wants to spend time there pretty much every day this week, so my hope and aim is to spend some hours there in the mornings starting tomorrow. There are a number of ideas whirling around in my head, but a more recent one will have my attention first and foremost because it will be the easiest to execute. The others are still rattling around in there, restless, but they'll get to come out and play soon enough. It'll just take some time to adjust and get things organized in the studio space.
Part of my creative efforts left me perusing through animal skulls and taxidermy on eBay earlier today -- perhaps for more time than I really should have spent doing that. Part of me thinks it strange to want to build up a collection of animal skulls and taxidermy (specifically, bird wings), but you know what, unless I learn the art of taxidermy myself it's the only way I think I'm going to be able to really study and draw these things. Typically it's from photographs, and I can only go so far with doing that.
I'm not sure where this fascination will lead me in my artwork, but I'm excited for it.
With that in mind, I'm going back to eBay to see if I can snipe a starling pelt.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Jesus and Boyfriends
I've noticed that I've kind of gotten away from posting things about art, but I promise you that there's lots of art things pushing around in my skin.. It's just that I haven't let it out to play in a while. So, instead I'm going to rattle on about some things that I've been thinking about recently.
If you're not plugged into the grape vine, I have a boyfriend and the two month mark is coming up in January. It's still pretty crazy to think that I have a boyfriend, because I've never really had one before, and he's such a sweetheart and a man of God. The reason I bring this up is because I've noticed that I talk about Scott a lot. I think half of the stuff that comes out of my mouth recently is about him, or somewhere we went, or something he said and/or did that I thought was fantastic. I don't talk about him ALL the time (because then I would annoy myself), I've just noticed that I talk about him a lot.
I'm excited about Scott: I love the way he treats me, respects me, talks to me, goofs around with me; I love the way he loves God and seeks God... and I love it when people ask, "So how's your boyfriend doing?" or "How are things with Scott?"
So, I was thinking about this the other day and came to an intersting conundrum. Although I enjoy Scott, and love talking about him, I should be just as excited (and then some) about my relationship with God. Some time ago in church, Pastor Mark gave a sermon about how exciting and joyful we ought to be about our relationship with Christ - much in the same way we are excited about a relationship with a significant other and excited to tell others about Him. I didn't fully grasp the concept because at the time I was single, but now I understand it all too well.
While I buzz around making sure that everyone and their mom knows that "Yvonne has a boyfriend and she thinks he's AWESOME," should I not also buzz around to make sure everyone knows the Savior of my soul, and how awesome He is?
Yes, I probably ought to do that. And though I know this -- though I know the charge put before me to share the good news about Christ -- I don't always share what it is that God's been doing in my life, or how God loves me and other people. Granted, I understand that bringing up Jesus is probably a bit more offensive than bringing up my boyfriend; however, this should not deter me from speaking truth or shedding light into the darkness. Although, granted yet again, I know that telling someone about Scott is not going to change their life... I can't even claim that Scott changed my life because God was the one that did that.
But, telling someone about Jesus will rock their world, either positively or negatively (and prayerfully, the response would be positive).
I suppose the up side of this realization is that I can praise Him who began a good work in me, because He is faithful to complete the good work. So this dilemma won't be left all on its own, but rather I know God's going to work with me on it.
So, prayerfully this thing will get sorted out sooner rather than later. In the end, I just need to make sure I don't willfully neglect telling people about Christ because when that happens, I'll have a much bigger problem on my hands.
If you're not plugged into the grape vine, I have a boyfriend and the two month mark is coming up in January. It's still pretty crazy to think that I have a boyfriend, because I've never really had one before, and he's such a sweetheart and a man of God. The reason I bring this up is because I've noticed that I talk about Scott a lot. I think half of the stuff that comes out of my mouth recently is about him, or somewhere we went, or something he said and/or did that I thought was fantastic. I don't talk about him ALL the time (because then I would annoy myself), I've just noticed that I talk about him a lot.
I'm excited about Scott: I love the way he treats me, respects me, talks to me, goofs around with me; I love the way he loves God and seeks God... and I love it when people ask, "So how's your boyfriend doing?" or "How are things with Scott?"
So, I was thinking about this the other day and came to an intersting conundrum. Although I enjoy Scott, and love talking about him, I should be just as excited (and then some) about my relationship with God. Some time ago in church, Pastor Mark gave a sermon about how exciting and joyful we ought to be about our relationship with Christ - much in the same way we are excited about a relationship with a significant other and excited to tell others about Him. I didn't fully grasp the concept because at the time I was single, but now I understand it all too well.
While I buzz around making sure that everyone and their mom knows that "Yvonne has a boyfriend and she thinks he's AWESOME," should I not also buzz around to make sure everyone knows the Savior of my soul, and how awesome He is?
Yes, I probably ought to do that. And though I know this -- though I know the charge put before me to share the good news about Christ -- I don't always share what it is that God's been doing in my life, or how God loves me and other people. Granted, I understand that bringing up Jesus is probably a bit more offensive than bringing up my boyfriend; however, this should not deter me from speaking truth or shedding light into the darkness. Although, granted yet again, I know that telling someone about Scott is not going to change their life... I can't even claim that Scott changed my life because God was the one that did that.
But, telling someone about Jesus will rock their world, either positively or negatively (and prayerfully, the response would be positive).
I suppose the up side of this realization is that I can praise Him who began a good work in me, because He is faithful to complete the good work. So this dilemma won't be left all on its own, but rather I know God's going to work with me on it.
So, prayerfully this thing will get sorted out sooner rather than later. In the end, I just need to make sure I don't willfully neglect telling people about Christ because when that happens, I'll have a much bigger problem on my hands.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Buzzing Brain Bees
I realized a problem that I have.
It's not that I neglected my note about surrealism (which I WILL get back to sometime in the near future... I hope).
Rather, this has to do with my habits of book buying and book reading. I'm not exactly what you would call a highly intellectual person (really, I'm not) but I will readily admit that I like information. I enjoy learning and discovering things... even though I'm not really discovering something that hasn't already been found before. Most of the books that I own are, in some format or another, about Christian growth. Some are about art. Some of them are about theology. Only a few are fiction - which, isn't that terribly ironic? a person fueled on creativity doesn't read that which is creative?
I haven't quite figured out why I'm like this. I enjoy fictional books, I just don't read them that often, at least not since I became a Christian. Since I became a follower of the Savior of the world, nearly all of my energy and focus has been discovering what exactly it means to be a follower of the Savior of the world.
It's like this insatiable thirst to find out answers to these questions: Who am I in Christ? What does it mean to be a Christian? What do I believe about the Bible? What do I believe about God? How does the Spirit work within me? ... etc. I want to know and I want to understand, and in turn I want to share that information with others.
Half of the books I own that help me traverse such questions, however, are waiting to be read. I am a slow reader. I like to digest words on paper, savoring sentences -- and sometimes things are harder to swallow than others. And yet, although I have all these other books left unread, I persist in buying more before I'm done with the others. I'm prepping myself for the day I'll be able to read the other books, I guess. I don't know.
Perhaps you could say that I'm a collector of applicable information... but that makes it sound more fancy than it needs to be. This is only part of my problem, though. Perhaps not even the bigger part of the problem.
I mean, I just like to learn things.
That means is that I have a lot of little random things buzzing around in my brain. These are anything from that which is inconsequential and not really that big of a deal... to what little I know about theology and Biblical text. Although it seems like a lot in some ways, in other ways I also know that what I know is not a lot. I've had my healthy share of feeling as dumb as a brick (especially when it comes to those common-knowledge, common sense kind of things).. I'm not a brainiac. I just like to tear things apart and try to figure them out.
There's always something more to learn. There's always something else to dig into, process, and store away for some use or another. And someone is always going to know more than I do about things. It's just a fact of life.
The reason why all of this is the second part of my problem is that I don't keep things - as Scott would say - "simple."
I over-think and complicate things that don't need to be over-thought or complicated. This is particularly true with spiritual issues, the Bible, and theology.
Let's bring up an example fresh out of the oven: today and yesterday was spent at Regional Staff Seminar for training. The topic: Biblical Application. Now, I was thinking one thing going into the seminar - that I was going to learn more about the Bible itself - and came out carrying something totally different. Pastor Dean Trulear was our speaker (and was phenomenal by the way) and one the biggest point about our time together was that we have the tendancy to take the Bible and see all the principles... While totally missing the Person. I know that the Bible is designed as not only a manual for life, but also as a means to get to know the Creator... but you know what, I think I tend to focus a heck of a lot more on the Manual part, and the informational part, that I don't always hear God's voice in the text.
I need to get back to seeking the seeking the relationship rather than the information.
So while my hunger and thirst to learn is probably a great thing, it's also my pitfall. Oh that the Lord would teach me how to balance it!
Keeping it simple is a lot harder than what it sounds like. At least, that's my perspective, as the person who over-thinks things. I'll see an issue that I could just simply trust that God knows how to handle, and try to figure out all the ways my hands are going to get dirty by meddling with the situation. I think about the things that could happen afterward. I think about how it might affect the way people think about me, or other such ridiculous things.
Come to think of it, when I over-think things, there's a common theme: me. It's all about me and my little world and how a situation is going to affect my little world; or how it disrupts my ideas about spirituality, theology, or life.
Dang.
It sucks when you realize how self-centered (or self-perserving) you can be in your own head.
But anyway.
Simple. Because I'm such an information-hog, let's see what we can find out about that word itself: humble, easy to understand/deal with, inornate, common or ordinary, naive, natural, unassuming.... and a handful of others. Thank you, Dictionary.com.
When I think of 'keeping it simple,' in regards to my relationship with God, I think of child-like faith. ... Knowledge and learning are not bad things. But, clearly I can understand how they complicate things when trying to trust God. Another way to put it is to say that I need to put my hope in God.
I need to open up my hands, stop clenching the issues that I keep complicating, and allow God to take care of it. ...And not just allow Him to do it, but also acknowledging God's faithfulness in all things. "I don't know what's going on, but I know that God does, and that's enough for me." It's not tossing what I know out the window or checking my brain at the door. By no means. But... perhaps it means that I need to submit my knowledge to my Creator, knowing that He knows all things and I don't.
I don't know. I think my thoughts are starting to pull at the seams.
"I still have the heart of a seeker, but I need the faith of a child." Supertones, you're speaking my language.
Blog, there's so much more that I would like to write about. Other things and thoughts that have nothing to do with my problem of sucking up information like a sponge.... which really isn't a proper image, since a lot of the information ends up falling out. Maybe I'm like an information bucket.
Right. I have bigger fish to fry than this.
It's not that I neglected my note about surrealism (which I WILL get back to sometime in the near future... I hope).
Rather, this has to do with my habits of book buying and book reading. I'm not exactly what you would call a highly intellectual person (really, I'm not) but I will readily admit that I like information. I enjoy learning and discovering things... even though I'm not really discovering something that hasn't already been found before. Most of the books that I own are, in some format or another, about Christian growth. Some are about art. Some of them are about theology. Only a few are fiction - which, isn't that terribly ironic? a person fueled on creativity doesn't read that which is creative?
I haven't quite figured out why I'm like this. I enjoy fictional books, I just don't read them that often, at least not since I became a Christian. Since I became a follower of the Savior of the world, nearly all of my energy and focus has been discovering what exactly it means to be a follower of the Savior of the world.
It's like this insatiable thirst to find out answers to these questions: Who am I in Christ? What does it mean to be a Christian? What do I believe about the Bible? What do I believe about God? How does the Spirit work within me? ... etc. I want to know and I want to understand, and in turn I want to share that information with others.
Half of the books I own that help me traverse such questions, however, are waiting to be read. I am a slow reader. I like to digest words on paper, savoring sentences -- and sometimes things are harder to swallow than others. And yet, although I have all these other books left unread, I persist in buying more before I'm done with the others. I'm prepping myself for the day I'll be able to read the other books, I guess. I don't know.
Perhaps you could say that I'm a collector of applicable information... but that makes it sound more fancy than it needs to be. This is only part of my problem, though. Perhaps not even the bigger part of the problem.
I mean, I just like to learn things.
That means is that I have a lot of little random things buzzing around in my brain. These are anything from that which is inconsequential and not really that big of a deal... to what little I know about theology and Biblical text. Although it seems like a lot in some ways, in other ways I also know that what I know is not a lot. I've had my healthy share of feeling as dumb as a brick (especially when it comes to those common-knowledge, common sense kind of things).. I'm not a brainiac. I just like to tear things apart and try to figure them out.
There's always something more to learn. There's always something else to dig into, process, and store away for some use or another. And someone is always going to know more than I do about things. It's just a fact of life.
The reason why all of this is the second part of my problem is that I don't keep things - as Scott would say - "simple."
I over-think and complicate things that don't need to be over-thought or complicated. This is particularly true with spiritual issues, the Bible, and theology.
Let's bring up an example fresh out of the oven: today and yesterday was spent at Regional Staff Seminar for training. The topic: Biblical Application. Now, I was thinking one thing going into the seminar - that I was going to learn more about the Bible itself - and came out carrying something totally different. Pastor Dean Trulear was our speaker (and was phenomenal by the way) and one the biggest point about our time together was that we have the tendancy to take the Bible and see all the principles... While totally missing the Person. I know that the Bible is designed as not only a manual for life, but also as a means to get to know the Creator... but you know what, I think I tend to focus a heck of a lot more on the Manual part, and the informational part, that I don't always hear God's voice in the text.
I need to get back to seeking the seeking the relationship rather than the information.
So while my hunger and thirst to learn is probably a great thing, it's also my pitfall. Oh that the Lord would teach me how to balance it!
Keeping it simple is a lot harder than what it sounds like. At least, that's my perspective, as the person who over-thinks things. I'll see an issue that I could just simply trust that God knows how to handle, and try to figure out all the ways my hands are going to get dirty by meddling with the situation. I think about the things that could happen afterward. I think about how it might affect the way people think about me, or other such ridiculous things.
Come to think of it, when I over-think things, there's a common theme: me. It's all about me and my little world and how a situation is going to affect my little world; or how it disrupts my ideas about spirituality, theology, or life.
Dang.
It sucks when you realize how self-centered (or self-perserving) you can be in your own head.
But anyway.
Simple. Because I'm such an information-hog, let's see what we can find out about that word itself: humble, easy to understand/deal with, inornate, common or ordinary, naive, natural, unassuming.... and a handful of others. Thank you, Dictionary.com.
When I think of 'keeping it simple,' in regards to my relationship with God, I think of child-like faith. ... Knowledge and learning are not bad things. But, clearly I can understand how they complicate things when trying to trust God. Another way to put it is to say that I need to put my hope in God.
I need to open up my hands, stop clenching the issues that I keep complicating, and allow God to take care of it. ...And not just allow Him to do it, but also acknowledging God's faithfulness in all things. "I don't know what's going on, but I know that God does, and that's enough for me." It's not tossing what I know out the window or checking my brain at the door. By no means. But... perhaps it means that I need to submit my knowledge to my Creator, knowing that He knows all things and I don't.
I don't know. I think my thoughts are starting to pull at the seams.
"I still have the heart of a seeker, but I need the faith of a child." Supertones, you're speaking my language.
Blog, there's so much more that I would like to write about. Other things and thoughts that have nothing to do with my problem of sucking up information like a sponge.... which really isn't a proper image, since a lot of the information ends up falling out. Maybe I'm like an information bucket.
Right. I have bigger fish to fry than this.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Throw in a dash of surrealism...
I've suddenly uncovered an artist from Quebec that has captured my artistic attention...
Pol Turgeon. Check out some of his work here. Or you can also go here.
This is partially a reminder to myself... I will likely edit this post with more thoughts later. But as for now, I've got to pick up some antibiotics to take care of this respiratory infection.
Pol Turgeon. Check out some of his work here. Or you can also go here.
This is partially a reminder to myself... I will likely edit this post with more thoughts later. But as for now, I've got to pick up some antibiotics to take care of this respiratory infection.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Remember what I told you about butterflies...?
People say that there's a first for everything... Pretty accurate, right?
More than once will we take our first steps and our first words.
First steps into a new period in our lives, or the first words we exchange with a new friend. As obvious as it may seem, those 'firsts' can certainly be only the beginning for something bigger, even bigger than we initially thought when it first started. One thing always leads to another thing.
Take, for example, the first steps outside of college. I graduated college in May, walking straight into training for doing college ministry. Now I've been on the journey of gathering supporters to be able to start working with students face to face, one fumbling artist to another.
Steps have been taken to recieve a studio in Philadelphia, a haven where I can work on art and exchange ideas... a place where my creative flower box can bloom in whatever direction it so chooses. Lynne and I had started tearing old, retro wooden accents from the walls in the studio on Thursday; another beginning. It's so exciting and so refreshing to start working on the room, to get it all nice and cleaned up, so we can get in there and start making art again.
If you asked me what I was going to do with my life about a year ago, I would have never dreamed this is where I would be.
In the season of Autumn, when things die or either go into hibernation, so many things have been brought to life. So many new things are cropping up to create an interesting paradox of newness in the midst of Fall. One of these days, I ought to conjure up some kind of visual representation of this, since the theme of life in the midst of death seems to keep coming up.
One of the things that has developed in this season of newness is definitely something I wasn't looking for. It caught me by suprise, and honestly it scared me: his name is Scott.
While I make no angle to be overtly girly or dramatic, there's something that has to be said about this new moment in my life. There are so many new things going on right now, that being in a relationship became one of the last things I even really wanted to happen. Nevermind the fact that, after training, I gave that very desire over to the Lord and pushed it to a quiet corner in my mind. I didn't want the distraction, I didn't want to deal with it. It was the last thing I needed.
God had something else in mind, it seems.
When I first met Scott, a scant three months ago, I seriously wanted little to do with him. Not in a mean, snobbish sort of way; but in the kind of way in which there was just so much coming at me at once that I was just too busy to make a new friend from Jersey. However, like I said, God had something else in mind. I would love to go into novel-esque detail about the story, but I don't feel as though this Blog is the place to do such things. Although I do enjoy the fact that he presented his case to me by starting out with, "I have a friend that came to me for advice about a girl..."
Adorably transparent, and I wouldn't have Scott any other way.
I appreciate the way the Lord worked it out, since it only proves that once you let God handle things and open your hands instead of clinging so tightly to the way you think things ought to be, it really is better. If I remained white-knuckled about fighting Him on this, nothing would have come of it. It teaches me a few things about how often I actually resist something God may be working out... it shows me for the jagged rock in the middle of the river that I really can be, pressing against the flow with all my might. Could it be that, because I haven't been in a relationship before, that the Lord wants to teach me something in the midst of all the other new things He wants to teach me? God can do anything He wants to.... and if He's the kind of God that knows what we can and cannot handle, then I suppose I can trust Him this time too.
God is central, and I need to remember that.
"Spinning around and around
Until my left was my right and up became down.
With just one look you knocked me off of my feet.
So unable to speak. Oh how you made me weak." - Mae, Ready & Waiting to Fall
I must be crazy.
More than once will we take our first steps and our first words.
First steps into a new period in our lives, or the first words we exchange with a new friend. As obvious as it may seem, those 'firsts' can certainly be only the beginning for something bigger, even bigger than we initially thought when it first started. One thing always leads to another thing.
Take, for example, the first steps outside of college. I graduated college in May, walking straight into training for doing college ministry. Now I've been on the journey of gathering supporters to be able to start working with students face to face, one fumbling artist to another.
Steps have been taken to recieve a studio in Philadelphia, a haven where I can work on art and exchange ideas... a place where my creative flower box can bloom in whatever direction it so chooses. Lynne and I had started tearing old, retro wooden accents from the walls in the studio on Thursday; another beginning. It's so exciting and so refreshing to start working on the room, to get it all nice and cleaned up, so we can get in there and start making art again.
If you asked me what I was going to do with my life about a year ago, I would have never dreamed this is where I would be.
In the season of Autumn, when things die or either go into hibernation, so many things have been brought to life. So many new things are cropping up to create an interesting paradox of newness in the midst of Fall. One of these days, I ought to conjure up some kind of visual representation of this, since the theme of life in the midst of death seems to keep coming up.
One of the things that has developed in this season of newness is definitely something I wasn't looking for. It caught me by suprise, and honestly it scared me: his name is Scott.
While I make no angle to be overtly girly or dramatic, there's something that has to be said about this new moment in my life. There are so many new things going on right now, that being in a relationship became one of the last things I even really wanted to happen. Nevermind the fact that, after training, I gave that very desire over to the Lord and pushed it to a quiet corner in my mind. I didn't want the distraction, I didn't want to deal with it. It was the last thing I needed.
God had something else in mind, it seems.
When I first met Scott, a scant three months ago, I seriously wanted little to do with him. Not in a mean, snobbish sort of way; but in the kind of way in which there was just so much coming at me at once that I was just too busy to make a new friend from Jersey. However, like I said, God had something else in mind. I would love to go into novel-esque detail about the story, but I don't feel as though this Blog is the place to do such things. Although I do enjoy the fact that he presented his case to me by starting out with, "I have a friend that came to me for advice about a girl..."
Adorably transparent, and I wouldn't have Scott any other way.
I appreciate the way the Lord worked it out, since it only proves that once you let God handle things and open your hands instead of clinging so tightly to the way you think things ought to be, it really is better. If I remained white-knuckled about fighting Him on this, nothing would have come of it. It teaches me a few things about how often I actually resist something God may be working out... it shows me for the jagged rock in the middle of the river that I really can be, pressing against the flow with all my might. Could it be that, because I haven't been in a relationship before, that the Lord wants to teach me something in the midst of all the other new things He wants to teach me? God can do anything He wants to.... and if He's the kind of God that knows what we can and cannot handle, then I suppose I can trust Him this time too.
God is central, and I need to remember that.
"Spinning around and around
Until my left was my right and up became down.
With just one look you knocked me off of my feet.
So unable to speak. Oh how you made me weak." - Mae, Ready & Waiting to Fall
I must be crazy.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Butterflies like to stay in my stomach.
Warning: This post will be heavy on the images!
I realize it's been a while since I mentioned the exhibition that I somehow managed to get a piece in... About a week ago was the opening, and of course I went to it. God bless my dad for driving all the way to DC and back again.
The closer and closer that we got to the gallery, the more anxious I got. You know that feeling.. when your chest tightens and it feels like there is a dozen butterflies trying to find a way out of your stomach. That's how I felt most of the time I was there, although it started to ease once I got to talking to some people. I couldn't help but keep thinking in the back of my head, "Wow, all these other artists are so
good. What am I doing here??" The echoes of that are still in my ears.
I got to meet three of the jurors, and found out that there were about 100 + applicants, 28 of which got into the show. I don't know how I got in there. One of them named Peggy seemed interested in me and she thinks that I should join the Washington Printmakers' Emerging Artists group that just got started. Yikes! The scary thing about that is just that I don't know how often I'm really going to be able to make prints anymore. I want to (I really, really do), I just don't know how that will work out with everything else that's going on in my life at the moment. Things are just.. wow crazy.
I also got to meet some other artists (some not from the show). Another man named Ted was interested in seeing more of my work..
Of course, all of the people I got contact information for (about 5?) I need to email yet... This past week was just all over the board with things to do.
In other news... I went over to the studio Saturday and took pictures of the space. I'm so excited about it, and to be honest I can't wait to start doing stuff again. When I have space to do work, I will make work. At home, I don't have space, so I haven't really been working on the pieces that I started. I'm ready to pop; there are so many ideas in my head rattling around, waiting to get out... sketching would probably help, but.... well. My habit with sketching is just toliet water. Anyway, here are some photos:
I realize it's been a while since I mentioned the exhibition that I somehow managed to get a piece in... About a week ago was the opening, and of course I went to it. God bless my dad for driving all the way to DC and back again.The closer and closer that we got to the gallery, the more anxious I got. You know that feeling.. when your chest tightens and it feels like there is a dozen butterflies trying to find a way out of your stomach. That's how I felt most of the time I was there, although it started to ease once I got to talking to some people. I couldn't help but keep thinking in the back of my head, "Wow, all these other artists are so
good. What am I doing here??" The echoes of that are still in my ears.I got to meet three of the jurors, and found out that there were about 100 + applicants, 28 of which got into the show. I don't know how I got in there. One of them named Peggy seemed interested in me and she thinks that I should join the Washington Printmakers' Emerging Artists group that just got started. Yikes! The scary thing about that is just that I don't know how often I'm really going to be able to make prints anymore. I want to (I really, really do), I just don't know how that will work out with everything else that's going on in my life at the moment. Things are just.. wow crazy.
I also got to meet some other artists (some not from the show). Another man named Ted was interested in seeing more of my work..
Of course, all of the people I got contact information for (about 5?) I need to email yet... This past week was just all over the board with things to do.In other news... I went over to the studio Saturday and took pictures of the space. I'm so excited about it, and to be honest I can't wait to start doing stuff again. When I have space to do work, I will make work. At home, I don't have space, so I haven't really been working on the pieces that I started. I'm ready to pop; there are so many ideas in my head rattling around, waiting to get out... sketching would probably help, but.... well. My habit with sketching is just toliet water. Anyway, here are some photos:
Monday, October 16, 2006
From the other blog..
I thought that I would add this here, even though I'm just cross-posting from my other blog (weeklything.blogspot.com).
Psalm 47:1,2
Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
Romans 12:1,2
…I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Hey everyone-
How’s it going? I hope that this week went well for all of you, or if nothing else that you were able to see God’s goodness throughout the week.
This past week I’ve been reading Romans (yes, again; it’s my favorite), and also thinking a lot about the nature of our salvation. Think about it. Regardless of if you grew up in church or not, you and I are saved not by our own merit but by something far bigger than that. God’s grace, as the song goes, is amazing. It’s incomparable with any sense of grace that we have here on earth.
Yesterday, the 15th, was the day that God implemented that grace to save me six years ago. I for one did not grow up in a Christian household, and didn’t really grow up going to church either. Romans 5:10 mentions that we were God’s enemies before knowing Him, while Romans 8:7 mentions that the sinful mind is hostile to God. It’s interesting to think about because I was one of those kids that rarely would do anything “wrong” on the outside: I obeyed my parents, I did my homework, I didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, didn’t hurt people intentionally… All around good, right? And yet, Scripture says clearly that before I knew Christ, I was an enemy of God. I’d say that’s about right. If nothing else, it got to the point in my life that anything to do with Christianity was trite idiocy (or arrogance) and I hated it. I hated the Christian God and wanted nothing to do with Him. I didn’t have a problem with there being a “god” whatever it was, but Yahweh? Please, I wanted none of it. Not just that, but the garbage that went on inside could not be compared to any outward misdemeanors I may have done. So, yes, I was an enemy of the LORD.
Yet, here I am now, loving God and just floored at the fact that He reached down and extended His salvation to me six years ago. And it’s all to Him that I have faith and a desire to write these Weekly Things every week. It’s to Him that everything in my life has changed since I was in High School… it’s to Him that any one of us have the faith we have, and it’s to Him that we were saved at all. Praises be to God!
The verse that I pin-point as the one that finally broke the camel’s back was this:
Matthew 16:24-25, “If anyone would come after me [Jesus], he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
So I ask you to ponder these questions with me… Do we recall the days before we knew Christ, and praise Him for what He’s done? Have I really shouldered my cross, denying myself for Him? Have I really lost my old life to have new life?
Praise the Lord for your salvation, not just today but every day.
I pray that each of us would be humbled by how amazing God’s grace really, truly is, and praise Him continually for salvation. I also pray that we extend that awe with others, sharing Christ with those who are enemies of God so that they can know God, and be saved in just the same way as we were. I ask that the Holy Spirit would continually be working in our hearts to protect us from temptation and sin, and that He would also work in us the likeness of Christ. I pray that our lives would not be our own, but His. May we all praise the Lord, always, for everything that He does.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne
P.S. I wanted to include this snippet… It’s from a local band called Kurios, and the name of the song is ‘Sing, Fall Down.’ I absolutely love it.
“One day You'll come again with open arms to hold me.
I'll see You face to face and bow before Your glory.
With all my strength, with all my heart,
with all I am my soul cries out.
With all of me I lift my voice to worship You.”
“We sing. We fall down. We worship You. We sing. We fall down.”
Psalm 47:1,2
Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
Romans 12:1,2
…I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Hey everyone-
How’s it going? I hope that this week went well for all of you, or if nothing else that you were able to see God’s goodness throughout the week.
This past week I’ve been reading Romans (yes, again; it’s my favorite), and also thinking a lot about the nature of our salvation. Think about it. Regardless of if you grew up in church or not, you and I are saved not by our own merit but by something far bigger than that. God’s grace, as the song goes, is amazing. It’s incomparable with any sense of grace that we have here on earth.
Yesterday, the 15th, was the day that God implemented that grace to save me six years ago. I for one did not grow up in a Christian household, and didn’t really grow up going to church either. Romans 5:10 mentions that we were God’s enemies before knowing Him, while Romans 8:7 mentions that the sinful mind is hostile to God. It’s interesting to think about because I was one of those kids that rarely would do anything “wrong” on the outside: I obeyed my parents, I did my homework, I didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, didn’t hurt people intentionally… All around good, right? And yet, Scripture says clearly that before I knew Christ, I was an enemy of God. I’d say that’s about right. If nothing else, it got to the point in my life that anything to do with Christianity was trite idiocy (or arrogance) and I hated it. I hated the Christian God and wanted nothing to do with Him. I didn’t have a problem with there being a “god” whatever it was, but Yahweh? Please, I wanted none of it. Not just that, but the garbage that went on inside could not be compared to any outward misdemeanors I may have done. So, yes, I was an enemy of the LORD.
Yet, here I am now, loving God and just floored at the fact that He reached down and extended His salvation to me six years ago. And it’s all to Him that I have faith and a desire to write these Weekly Things every week. It’s to Him that everything in my life has changed since I was in High School… it’s to Him that any one of us have the faith we have, and it’s to Him that we were saved at all. Praises be to God!
The verse that I pin-point as the one that finally broke the camel’s back was this:
Matthew 16:24-25, “If anyone would come after me [Jesus], he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
So I ask you to ponder these questions with me… Do we recall the days before we knew Christ, and praise Him for what He’s done? Have I really shouldered my cross, denying myself for Him? Have I really lost my old life to have new life?
Praise the Lord for your salvation, not just today but every day.
I pray that each of us would be humbled by how amazing God’s grace really, truly is, and praise Him continually for salvation. I also pray that we extend that awe with others, sharing Christ with those who are enemies of God so that they can know God, and be saved in just the same way as we were. I ask that the Holy Spirit would continually be working in our hearts to protect us from temptation and sin, and that He would also work in us the likeness of Christ. I pray that our lives would not be our own, but His. May we all praise the Lord, always, for everything that He does.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne
P.S. I wanted to include this snippet… It’s from a local band called Kurios, and the name of the song is ‘Sing, Fall Down.’ I absolutely love it.
“One day You'll come again with open arms to hold me.
I'll see You face to face and bow before Your glory.
With all my strength, with all my heart,
with all I am my soul cries out.
With all of me I lift my voice to worship You.”
“We sing. We fall down. We worship You. We sing. We fall down.”
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