December 9, 2007 Chrismons 2

December 2, 2007 Chrismons 1

November 4, 2007 Tree of Saints

To the Saints who have gone before us

And to the Saints to walk with us

Thanks be to God for their lives

October 28, 2007 Church in Progress

The Church in Progress

October 21, 2007 Jason's Piece

How We Give

Shapes Who We Are

October 14, 2007 Tree of Life

The Tree of Life

that which connects as to all life

as creations

of the the Creator

October 7, 2007 Lantern

The Light of Eternal Life through Christ

September 30, 2007 Tea Ceremony

The Japanese Tea Ceremony

Every guest is significant

Every move is intended Through tea, recognition is given that every human encounter

is a singular occasion which can, and will, never recur agian exactly.

September 16, 2007 Family

The Family

Each different in appearance

Each sharing love, acceptance, and a place to Be

Each a model for the church

A place where we can love and be loved

A place where we can accept and be accepted

A place where each of us can Be

Thanks be to God

September 9, 2007 Peacock

The Peacock, a symbol of immortality;

A reminder of the life that Christ passes onto us

The only requirement for such a gift-

That we call upon His Name.

Thanks be to God.

September 2, 2007 Angels

Angel Friend

Angels are everywhere.

Even when you don't know it,

They could be anyone at any time,

And they might not even show it.

They could be that quiet girl,

Or that man on the street,

Be nice to them,

Show them care,

It could be a test,

A test from God to see your character.

If you don't,

Switch places with them,

Step into their shoes,

Would you want someone to be kind to you,

That's for you to choose

In the end

Your best friend

Could be an angel.

August 26, 2007 Elijah

August 19, 2007 Mexican Crucifix

August 12, 2007 Psalm 1

August 5, 2007 Happy Family

Happy Family

A glimpse of the life

that fills the people of

a country different

from our own

July 15, 2007 Griffin

The Griffin, A symbol of Christ

Lord of Heaven, as the Eagle

Lord of Earth, as the Lion

In One, as in Christ

July 8, 2007 Churches

Our brothers and sisters, to whom God has chosen to make known among the Gentile the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Amen. While traveling to see family, often I stop to photograph the churches along the way. This week I chose to use the photos and drawings from photos to show the many brothers and sisters we have that we don't often think about. However, we are all the keepers of the riches of the gospel that Christ has given us and with which he continues to teach us.

July 1, 2007 Saint Augustine

Great are Thou, O Lord and greatly to be praised; Great is Thy power, and of Thy wisdom there is no end. And man, being a part of the Thy creation, desires to praise Thee- Man, who bears about with him his mortality, The witness of his sin, even the witness that Thou "resistest the proud"- Yet man, this part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee. Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; For Thou hast formed us for Thyself, And our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee. Saint Augustine This is an illuminated text inspired by the Bromeliad standing above it. I used cut paper and pasted it onto the original. In college we read Augustine's Confessions many times and I highlighted nearly every other line. The last line in this passage always resounds true in my ear.

June 24, 2007 Worshipfully

Here is the finished icon. The final addition is the Spirit, depicted as a dove. The dove has a halo around its head and is set within a star of regeneration. This star, which I used for Easter, is an eight-pointed star, made of two squares. Again, it is interesting to note that the Star of Bethlehem is also an eight-pointed star.

June 17, 2007 God the Father

This week adds God the Father to the Holy Trinity. As with Christ, God the Father's right hand is blessing all and holds a scroll in his left hand. Behind the Father's head is a triangle, signifying the Trinity. Each of these classic icons are very similar as far as the shape of the figure goes. The heads of both figures are quite small while the shoulders are broad. This form begins the Byzantine period and does not change in hopes of keeping a familiarity among the figures seen in icons. No matter when the icon was put together, the people could always tell who was Christ, who was God the Father, who was the Spirit, and even onto the Virgin Mary and the saints. Often the people could not read, but they knew the symbols that belonged to each figure.

June 10, 2007 Christ

In preparation for our Worshipfully event, I started a triptych, a set of three icons, of the Holy Trinity. This week started off with Christ, holding his right hand in blessing toward all, and a Bible in his left hand. Behind Christ's head is a cross. As Baptists, we tend to misunderstand the role of icons in our worship, confusing them with idols. However, these icons were used as devotional items, meant to focus attention on things higher than ourselves.

May 27, 2007 Samaritan Woman

John 4.7-42

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. ⁸(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) ⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) ¹⁰Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ ¹¹The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹²Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ ¹³Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ ¹⁵The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’

16 Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ ¹⁷The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; ¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ ¹⁹The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ ²¹Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ ²⁵The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ ²⁶Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’

27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’ ²⁸Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ²⁹‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ ³⁰They left the city and were on their way to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ ³²But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ ³³So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ ³⁴Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. ³⁵Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. ³⁶The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. ³⁷For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” ³⁸I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’

39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. ⁴¹And many more believed because of his word. ⁴²They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’ This paper cut, done by a Chinese artist named Fan Pu, is my favorite depiction of this story. I've heard someone say that the Samaritan woman at the well was the first missionary ever commissioned, and commissioned by Christ no less. I have since been able to purchase more of her art. She is now teaching others this traditional Chinese art form while incorporating Christian themes.

May 20, 2007 Wooden Star

John 17:20-26 ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ²⁴Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ This is a wooden mosaic put together by my grandfather. This work, with its different colored pieces, put together in a wonderful pattern exemplifies unity among those who are different. The difference is what enables beauty, so may it be in our lives.

May 13, 2007 Tree of Grace

John 5:1-9

After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralysed. 5One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ 7The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ 8Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ 9At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a sabbath. 10So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.’ 11But he answered them, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Take up your mat and walk.” ’ 12They asked him, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Take it up and walk”?’ 13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. 14Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.’ 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. 17But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is still working, and I also am working.’ 18For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.

This week we talked about grace. The kind of grace that God extends to humankind without thinking of who is deserving, who is grateful, or even who is faithful. In this story, the sick man does not ask for grace, does not recognize Christ for who he is, and does not even thank Jesus for healing him. The man even ratted Jesus out to the fellows at the Temple. However, grace is given. But how are we to do likewise? One small thing is to extend grace where it has not been extended. This piece, along with a few letters, will be sent to the Cho family, who are left heart-broken by the loss of a son and the actions of that son. God grant us thy grace, that we may grant it to others.

By the way, as we gathered the letters, we made sure that people write something only if they were comfortable with it. By no means is something as controversial as this for everyone, which is why it is good that there are so many different people in the world.

May 6, 2007 Loving one another

John 13:31-35

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

Jesus tells us to love one another- this is a very large and difficult command. We must practice, we must work at it, even after we fail. As an excercise in this new way to interact with others, we can get to know those 'others.' As we get to know different people, we just might be more able to love those we do not know. On the other side of the same coin, we must learn to love ourselves as well. For how can we love anyone else if we don't love ourselves. Many times, I find this one to be harder than loving others. But I must get to know myself, must learn to love myself, so that I am able to love others. The art for this week includes the record of the handprints of everyone in the church. These will be collected and made into a quilt which will be added to as we grow.

April 29, 2007 Hand of God

Nothing, No one will snatch us from the Hand of God. Thanks be to God. John 10:22-30

22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ ²⁵Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; ²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰The Father and I are one.’

This text is a particularly hard one. With so many important issues of Jesus' identity, Jesus' relation to God the Father, the disbelief of those standing in front of Jesus' face, the place of believers, the care Jesus takes when shepherding his flock, these things are huge! However, the image that stuck out to me was the image of God's hand and how we will never be snatched out of his hand. The community of God has hands, hands from which we will also never be snatched. I wanted to record those hands, so that we may all see how many hands are holding us up.

April 22, 2007 Fish

Just when I think my efforts have come to nothing, my Lord takes those efforts and brings about more good than I ever thought possible. Thanks be to God!

John 21:1-19 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. ²Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. ³Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ ⁶He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. ⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. ⁸But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. ¹⁰Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ ¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ ¹⁶A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ ¹⁷He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

For this week's text, I decided to take hold of the fairly random, yet very specific, mention of 153 fish. I ended up folding 153 origami fish, with much help from my family, and arranging them in a fishing net. This particular text is a little slice of life that is very vivid. It is almost like we are invited to look on as the events unfold. As with every other text, there are many different ways to look at this story, but for this particular time, and thinking personally, God's blessings as far as bringing fruit from my efforts stuck out this time around.

April 15, 2007 Paper Lantern

John 20.19-31

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ ²⁸Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ ²⁹Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. Usually with this text the doubt of Thomas is highlighted. However, I decided to go with the ironic scene where the remaining disciples continually lock themselves away from the world out of fear even after Jesus visits them. As if from nowhere, Jesus appears to impart peace. In this installation, I used foam board and tissue paper, carving out three faces on each wall. The candle in the center represents the prescence of Christ among the disciples even when they have closed themselves away. This is after Judas' betrayal and death and Matthias has not quite joined the disciples yet, but we know he's coming. This project is interesting in that different people see different things. Some may see branches and leaves, others may see faces, some may just see the shapes. Whatever you see, this work imparts a sense of peace.

April 8, 2007 Easter Star of Regeneration

Luke 24.1-12 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. ²They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they went in, they did not find the body. ⁴While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. ⁵The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. ⁶Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ ⁸Then they remembered his words, ⁹and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ¹²But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Easter is a time of celebration for the regeneration of life. This eight-pointed star, one square on edge over another square, is a symbol used to represent regeneration in many cultures. This star is also connected to the Star of Bethlehem, which also has eight points. So the relation between Easter and Christ’s birth is strengthened. One cannot have one without the other, and the two working together regenerates humanity and all creation.

April 1, 2007 Processional

Philippians 2:5-11 ⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, id not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, ⁷but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, ⁸ he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

One of my favorite icons is for this week, Palm Sunday. It is such a great scene because of the humanity of each of the characters. People are climbing up trees for a better view, people are laying down their palm branches and coats. But then you look closer and the scene is full of motion as well. One fellow is climbing up the tree and my favorite fellow is wriggling out of his coat to lay down before Jesus and the donkey. Using this icon as inspiration, I put together my own version in which I used ink and bamboo brushes. The congregation at our church loves to figure things out and I love to simplify things, so we work well together. This week’s piece is one that is left up to the viewer as to what they see, but my inspiration came from the scene of the Processional.

March 25, 2007 Color Wheel Puzzle

Who Teaches Us Wholeness

Shalom, usually defined as peace. However, ancient Hebrew has a small vocabulary, so each word means more. Shalom is an idea that means completeness, wholeness that comes from God. In this wholeness, there is Peace. God grant us Peace.

Psalm 126

1When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ 3The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced. 4Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negeb. 5May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. 6Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.

Philippians 3:4b-14

4even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

March 18, 2007 Sunrise

Joshua 5.9-12

9The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.’ And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. 10 While the Israelites were encamped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. 11On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This image is one of those, see what you will type of things. I visualized a sunrise, creation, looking out over vast expanses, but the viewer has the opportunity to bring their own meaning to this work.

March 11, 2007 Reflection Pond

What comes from the Spirit? I Corinthians 10.1-13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ²and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

6 Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. ⁷Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.’ ⁸We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. ⁹We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. ¹⁰And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹²So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. ¹³No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

The water of life comes from the Spirit, making all things bloom and grow. All of nature, all of humanity lives because of this fount. This particular installation also provides a sense of peace, which also comes directly from the Spirit of God.

March 4, 2007 Reflective Cross

How we Change

Reflective Cross

Philippians 3 :17-4:1

17 Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. ¹⁸For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. ¹⁹Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. ²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. 4¹Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

The cross changes us. In this work, the reflective paper allows us to see ourselves within the cross, allowing us to think about how the cross of Christ has changed us and continues to change us.

January 21, 2007 Sacred Heart of Christ

The Sacred Heart of Christ... a reminder that our Lord loved us first thereby, giving us the ability to love others. Thanks be to God! This photograph is of a statue of Christ of the Sacred Heart which stands in front of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Canton, Mississippi. This particular depiction of Christ emphasizes the love Christ has for humanity.

January 7, 2007 Toby and Jonah

These two works of art were painted by two of our children. In their paintings, Toby, 3, and his brother Jonah, 5, remind us that they are ours to love and teach, and teach us that they are teaching us and will continue to teach us much more than we will ever teach them. It is indeed a gift to watch them grow.