From a Distance to Bliss

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=hopeful+heart#/dmkpws

I was up in the early hours of the morning a night or two ago and came across, in my more or less random surfing on the Internet, a pair of poems that totally moved me. Here is the first one whose author I wish I knew the name of to credit it ...

I’ve loved you for too long now
Do you know what you mean to me?
Do you know that my heart bleeds for you?
I need you to know now more than before
You may never know how I feel
Never give me a second glance
But what I need
Is to tell you I’m here for you
We are far apart
Too far away from you
You should know tonight
Know right now
That I want to be there with you

                 ~Author Anonymous

Who knows but the author of course, what the situation was. But I know that there are times when enough is enough and the truth, this feeling of heartbreak and emotion, just must come out. One would hope that for whom this poem was intended received it. Who wouldn't want to have been given it! And you just never know ....

This next poem was found on an Arabic site ...

if i were the earth that envelops your form,

if i were the fire that kept you through winter warm,

if i were the cloud that gave you shade from the sun,

if i were the spring from which you washed for the One,

if i were the turban that your blessed hands had spun,

if i were the sandals that protected your feet,

my whole soul would sing and my bliss would be complete.

             ~Shaykh Muhammad

This kind of love is just beautiful isn't it!

Eight (or is it nine) Oscar Wildes

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=oscar#/dupbcn

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Irish dramatist, poet, and author had a whole bunch of quotable moments. Here are a few of my favorites ...

"Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much."

"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter."

"Genius is born--not paid."

“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you."

And this famous one ...

“Women are made to be loved not understood.”

The Earth Laughs in Flowers

A couple of flowery quotes to share on this winter day in the mountains ...


To see a World in a grain of sand And Heaven in a wild flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour

~William Blake

Earth laughs in flowers.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

Mennonites With an Attitude???

I just found this graphic, on the web site of a self-described Mennonite artist. I really don't know what to say other than, "You go, girl."

The Weaver

Edgar Guest

The patter of rain on the roof,
The glint of the sun on the rose;
Of life, these the warp and the woof,
The weaving that everyone knows.
Now grief with its consequent tear,
Now joy with its luminous smile;
The days are the threads of the year--
Is what I am weaving worth while?

What pattern have I on my loom?
Shall my bit of tapestry please?
Am I working with gray threads of gloom?
Is there faith in the figures I seize?
When my fingers are lifeless and cold,
And the threads I no longer can weave
Shall there be there for men to behold
One sign of the things I believe?

God sends me the gray days and rare,
The threads from his bountiful skein,
And many, as sunshine, are fair.
And some are as dark as the rain.
And I think as I toil to express
My life through the days slipping by,
Shall my tapestry prove a success?
What sort of weaver am I?

Am I making the most of the red
And the bright strands of luminous gold?
Or blotting them out with the thread
By which all men's failure is told?
Am I picturing life as despair,
As a thing men shall shudder to see,
Or weaving a bit that is fair
That shall stand as the record of me?

From: Just Folks by Edgar A. Guest

Copyright 1917 by The Reilly & Britton

Road Trip: Portland, Oregon

We just got back from our vacation! We had a great time, relaxing, checking out the zoo (The zoo has over a thousand specimens representing two hundred species, 21 of which are endangered) and Portland Art Museum to check out the fantastic works of M.C. Escher! The Portland Art Museum is the oldest museum of its kind in the region founded in 1892.

And of course there was ... Munching out ... watching TV ... You could say I was "happily slacking" on lots of stuff while we were away.

I'll be back to what passes for regular posting soon ...

Vacation!

Melissa, the kids and I are packed and ready to go on a mini vacation to Portland, Oregon! We've been looking forward to this for a few weeks! We will be checking out the Escher exhibit at the Portland Art Museum and also the Zoo on Monday. (Hannah is head over heels about the latter!) We'll be back late Tuesday evening. I said mini vacation after all. See you then!

Tim

Off The Rails

Kind of a downer subject..."The sadness will never go away."-Van Gogh suicide note

I would think that life without God would be kinda lonely, incomplete... Yet Van Gogh did know God... I have to wonder why some push the self destruct button, while others carry on? God made everyone in His image, but do some have more God than others? Is suicide EVER an option?

Depression on this level is something I really don't understand. Rather its only actually feeling it that I don't understand. I know enough to know that it isn't just having a "blue" day or something a person can just get over. God may just chose to heal someone of it, but to just dismiss it, as some do, as something that can just be cured or lost if someone seeks God enough doesn't seem realistic. Nor does it show compassion, which is something we, as a Christian, should have... The reason I bring this up as I've been thinking of a friend at work who committed suicide a couple of years ago. I wonder...where is he now?

I am comforted by Romans 9:39. "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord."

I think that as a Christian, we may step out of Gods will, but not out of His care. You know, I praise God I have not suffered serious depression, or feelings of suicide, but if I ever should, I know these will not separate me from the love of God. The victory and the glory of Christ cannot be snatched from Him because I go off the rails, in a matter of speaking.

Just some thoughts ... have a blessed day everyone!

Artists Ramble

Have you ever studied the lives of any of the great artists in history? I don't mean just the artist that painted or did art, I mean artist in the terms of creative people...writers, singers, and so forth...

I majored in art in college, (not that I ever finished and got a degree or anything but I did take every art class they offered...lol) and in studying the ones admired the most, they all seem to have suffered either from deep depression or went through some terrible times in their lives.

Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata (spelling?) but its one of the most beautiful but also mournful pieces of music ever written. The story behind it was that he was in love with this young lady but her family rejected him and he could not marry her. He was utterly heart broken and it came out in this music. Later on some of his most wonderful music came after he had gone deaf!!! Could you image writing music and not being able to hear it?

I image somewhere he told someone he could hear the music in his head, he didn't need to hear it with his ears.

Wolfgang Mozart was considered insane I think...or seemed to be, but actually it was due to the terrible treatment he got by others in most of his life. There is a movie that was done on him a number of years ago...you ought to check it out and watch it.

Edgar Allan Poe, was an extremely depressed person, in fact I heard he had bipolar, but not real sure on that. Just reading his stuff, while so well written and required reading in many schools (or used to be), you can image how the depression affected his writings.

Van Gogh...he cut his ear off....I think it was over a woman too....grief and despair can do funny things to ones mind.

Michelangelo was also a nut case...lol....He had a learning disability, depression and a recent news article said he may have had Aspergers ... what that is....well we call it being a geek....awkard, no social skills and gets super focused on ONE thing. His one thing was art...

I think all these people obsessed to some degree or another with their work to the point they neglect family, friends and other normal day activities. Which caused people to think they were nutty...I don't think they were really nutty, they were gifted...

But also in all their lives some kind of grief and heartache and depression affected them and because of it, it actually enriched their art, be it painting or writing or acting...whatever and it made them outstanding in what they did.

They have all left us with their 'gifts' and something to learn by and appreciate and make kids have to learn in school....

When I was younger and wanted to 'create' something, whatever...I wrote and did "art" well kinda ....I was told SO many times that to be a good artist I had to SUFFER! Had to go through hardships and all kinds of bad stuff in order to add that richest to my art....sounded real appealing ... Right!

I find it amazing that our most talented people throughout history really had such rough lives! And there seems to be a correlation to great Christians ...I also think it helps the rest of us too ...

Tim

The Manga Bible

This guy is coming out with a Manga Bible! Pretty neat, eh? He says to think of it as a kind of expensive tract, because it obviously does not contain all of the text of the real thing ...

http://www.themangabible.com/

I can't help but wonder if there are other religions in the world that use their sacred texts as marketing material to the extent that Christianity does. I mean... do you see comic-book Korans? Telletubby Torahs? Wall-art B'hagavad Gitas (if I spelled that right, it's a miracle)? Any thoughts?

First Christian Church, Eugene, Oregon

The cornerstone of the present church building was laid in 1911 at a original cost $75,000, although it was reduced by $1,000 when the contractor was unable to fix a leak in the dome. It leaked for 81 years and was finally fixed! One of the most impressive features of the church is its stained glass windows which may be found in every part of the original structure including the Sunday School and meeting rooms. The Sanctuary windows depict the story of the Christ in Gothic style, reproducing several famous paintings. I didn't get near the time I wanted but will be checking it out a lot closer on my next visit! This building is a true treasure!

We're Going to Feast!!!

I have a question about a quote that appears in at least 2 of Brennan Mannings books that I have read. He writes about imagining these words coming from our loving Lord Jesus:

"Do not be afraid I am with you. I expect more failure from you than you expect from yourself."

Every time I come across this it makes me stop and wonder.

What I hear in that line is "my grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in...weakness. My whole living sacrifice to Him is based in this truth. Cannot thank Him enough! I have not found a verse in God's word where it says we can disappoint Him. We can grieve Him most certainly, but there is a difference, I think the best example of grieving the Father, as opposed to disappointing Him is portrayed in the parable of the prodigal son. I am pretty sure when we stand before God, each and every one of us will have reason to believe that He is disappointed, the prodigal son most certainly did, but look at the Father's response to him. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! ( Luke 15 : 11 - 32)

If we hear of revival somewhere, let us not go and try to find the faults that may exist in their doctrines or positions. "Well, Lord, they didn't follow us so we told them not to do it." Jesus said, "You should not have done that. If they are out there doing it in My name, they can't very well be against us. Don't stop them." God deliver us from narrow sectarianism, from an attitude of the Pharisee, but to the same heart of Jesus. Let us rejoice that the Lord receives sinners and eats with them.

So while some people down here are saying, "When are they going to clean up their act?" The angels are up having a whoopee time rejoicing that the lost has been found. Joy in heaven ... We're gonna feast!!!

Any thoughts?

Now Thats A Vacation!!!

This is one of those things I found looking for something else ...

BUT ... Imagine taking a year off from your job! It sounds really cool to me! Then to extend it further ... imagine the entire country putting work on the shelf for twelve months.

An interesting thought, but one God told Israel to do in Exodus 23:10-11.

"And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:

But the seventh [year] thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, [and] with thy oliveyard."

All work on the land was to be suspended on the seventh, sabbatical year, which in an agricultural society means the people were to rest from their ordinary work. Servants were set free, debts suspended ... Imagine what a person could do with a year of time on their hands. God promised to bless the harvest during the 6th year, enough to last until the harvest of the 8th year. However ... there was one condition to this gift ... that Israel faithfully follow the seventh year sabbatical regulations. And there is no indication they ever did though ...

But hey ... Now thats a vacation!

something as simple

It often surprises me and amazes me the places where a person can find love and the many different kinds of love. God's love is what makes the other kinds possible. I do not believe in my heart that He hides His love from anyone. I just think it's a matter of finding it. It can be found in so many things and in so many places. Love can be found in something as simple as a complimate from a stranger ... something as simple as a butterfly hovering in front of you ... something as simple as the joy in a child's laughter ... something as simple as the smile on an elderly persons face ... something as simple a hug from a friend or a kiss on the cheek from a suitor ... something as simple as telling someone you love them or hearing it said to you ... something as simple as the determination of a devoted man in love ... something as simple as the beauty in the eyes of a woman in love ... something as simple as snuggling a family pet ... all these things are gifts of love that God gives to each of us daily at some point. If you had to choose between something as simple as getting your face licked by a goofy dog as opposed to nothing at all...which would you choose? Me? I'd take the lickin'. ~Hehehe~ The point is ... love is all around us. We just have to open our eyes and see it.

Have a blessed day!

'Dem Bones/Sedlec Ossuary Chapel of All Saints

Ezekiel - Chapter 37:4 Then he said to me, "Speak to these bones and say, `Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to breathe into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.' "


Now for something different I came across ...

Until it was bombed out in World War II, a Christian sanctuary called the Sacra Infirmary Chapel on Malta was decorated entirely with human bones. The three photos below show detail in the Sedlec Ossuary Chapel of All Saints, located in the Czech Republic. It is decorated with the bones of 40,000 saints!

http://www.ludd.luth.se/users/silver_p/kutna-1.html

Now this raises a theological question. If it is believed that those who are "resurrected with Christ" in the last day will rise up with their bodies, then what would one see if one was in one of these chapels at the moment of the Last Trump? Just had to ask ...

Be willing to go naked!

I'm so moved by this quote.

“My own belief is that one regards oneself, if one is a serious writer, as an instrument for experiencing. Life – all of it – flows through this instrument and is distilled through it into works of art. How one lives as a private person is intimately bound into the work. And at some point I believe one has to stop holding back for fear of alienating some imaginary reader or real relative or friend, and come out with personal truth. If we are to understand the human condition, and if we are to accept ourselves in all the complexity, self-doubt, extravagance of feeling, guilt, joy, the slow freeing of the self to its full capacity for action and creation, both as human being and as artist, we have to know all we can about each other, and we have to be willing to go naked.” -

May Sarton, Journal of a Solitude

I mean wow! My life longing has been held in this quote all my life. "how one lives as a private person is intimately bound into the work." And I feel more and more as time passes I am more and more naked to myself. I see more, reveal more, and allow for more of of my inner being out into the light of day. The art that wants to come through, the words that have been waiting for me are getting closer to the surface... getting ready to make their leap into the world of Being.

Reading this quote was such an affirmation in my day. Can I hear an amen?

I thank you May!

And the stars made music ...

Something rather interesting I came across ...

Something like 20 years ago, Astrophysicist Dr. Fiorella Terenzi aimed the famous SETI radio telescopes of Socorro, New Mexico at a galaxy naked to the human eye (she knew it was there based upon the radio waves it emitted), and she used a synthesizer to transform the radiation of galaxy UGC 6697 into discernible frequencies that human ears could hear. Essentially, she discovered that the frequencies heavenly bodies emitted could be related to human ears in the form of gigantic and almost overwhelming music. Although this “space music" is much different than anything that humans would create, Dr. Terenzi analyzed it and realized that although it sounds somewhat random to our ears, it actually represents a complicated system of tonality that is produced by the spiraling nature of this galaxy. The symphonic nature of this galaxy evokes the idea of a million piece orchestra, an orchestra in which no two instruments are alike.

Wow! I find this stuff amazing,astounding even! I believe that the stars do sing. Scripture says the rocks will cry out if we don’t praise Him. There have been many times that I have wished we could just shut up for one day so that the rocks praise Him, but I don’t think it would sound like what I imagine. I can’t wait for arts and craft time in heaven with the Creator God. And believe you me, this isn’t sarcasm. Think about how much we are wowed by “special effects” and then think about what it would be like not just to manipulate, but to actually CREATE. Pure, unadulterated ORIGINALITY! Wow ...

Those who dance ...

A really cool quote and so true!


"Those who dance were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music"

~Angeia Monet

... And it was a good excuse to get another Monet, Claude this time, on this blog as well!

Some Susanna and Vincent on a Sunday

A great quote and a good excuse to put some Van Gogh on this blog ....

John Wesley asked his mother, Susanna Wesley, "How do you define sin?" Her reply was perhaps more penetrating that many formal theologians could develop: "If anything weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God or takes away your relish for spiritual things; in short if anything increases the power or authority of the flesh over the Spirit that for you becomes sin however good it is in itself."

American Church Style

I don't think that one could never accuse American Churches of having overwhelmingly good architectural style. Our European friends have us beat hands-down in that category, as can be seen in this photo of a breathtaking church in Iceland.





I will confess that viewing pictures of the magnificent churches and cathedrals of Europe sometimes make me wonder uncomfortably about the wealth that went into their creation. But gotta be something to be said about gathering to worship in a place of such stunning architectural beauty and I find myself wishing that a stronger aesthetic streak ran in American circles.

I may have noted this link before, but it seems relevant here:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2127615/

Some of these new churches are striking, but they seem less about spirituality and more about showmanship. I will not deny those are impressive structures, but why do they all have to look so much like airport terminals? lol

Have a blessed day everyone!

Tim