Take 4.2 Billion Years and Think About It

Last week I sat with a friend on his farm way out in the country.  It was quiet and peaceful and as evening came we sat in his pasture facing east.  Away to the horizon a great cloud began to grow and soon covered the eastern sky and mounted the heavens thousands of feet above us.  I thought in 4.2 billion years would all human brilliance combined with time and chance think up clouds?  I looked around and a small yellow butterfly fluttered away and carried with it my thoughts to God and how I needed to build an altar.  

We Often Need A Dawn

If for only a moment we could fully fathom the miracle of morning, of dawn once again coming and of the gift of our own consciousness of it, both of which we do nothing to create but or free recipients, great altars might dot the landscape and every sunrise be greeted with praise. 

I Represent! ?

As “Christ’s ambassadors…” it is our responsibility to bring victory to everyone and every situation we encounter.  Our every role in life and in community is based on how we respond to this one question, will we represent God or will we represent self? 

You Do Realize Your Eyes See?

I am teaching the self-portrait bust.  It is basically easy to train someone how to sculpt the self-portrait but is far harder to get him or her to understand how wonderfully he or she is made.  Perceived self-image is always a bitter foe to the fact that you have eyes that see.  The great joy is not that students successfully model a likeness of themselves but that they live in sincere gratefulness to Whom can bring the likeness to life.  My job is then successful because the thriving student will see their creative act as a means and method of saying, “Thank You!” 

You Must Reject Little Pleasure Counterfeits

The great joy of being an artist and being able to make work is often so good that its meaning cannot be easily explained.  I find this to be one of my most difficult tasks when teaching young art students; the prolonged and consistent fulfillment in a life lived in the creative act.  I have found two things that contribute most to the difficulty.  One is that living as an artist is and will always be extremely hard work and requires a tremendous amount of self-discipline.  Hard work and discipline is often seen by students as things to avoid.  Secondly, most students have never experienced great life joy and so the little pleasures they have experienced parade in their fancies as great.  It is hard to convince them that most of these counterfeits must be rejected or put away in order to experience true and lasting vocational life joy.