REFLECTIONS ON FAITH & ART

          "My name is also Ransom," said the Voice.       It was some time before the purport of this saying dawned upon him.  He whom the other worlds call Maleldil, was the world's ransom, his own ransom, well he knew.  But to what purpose was it said now?  Before the answer came to him he felt its insufferable approach and held out his arms before him as if he could keep it from forcing open the door of his mind.  But it came.  That that was the real issue.  If he now failed, this world also would hereafter be redeemed.  If he were not the ransom, Another would be.  Yet nothing was ever repeated.  Not a second crucifixion: perhaps – who knows – not even a second Incarnation...  some act of even more appalling love, some glory of yet deeper humility.  For he had seen already how the pattern grows and how from each world it sprouts into the next through some other dime...

          They left the great granite plain and flew over a garden even more beautiful than anything in a dream.  It in were gathered many of the creatures like the one Mrs. Whatsit had become, some lying among the flowers, some swimming in a broad, crystal river that flowed through the garden, some flying in what Meg was sure must be a kind of dance, moving in and out above the trees.  They were making music, music that came not only from their throats but from the movement of their great wings as well.           "What are they singing?" Meg asked excitedly.            Mrs. Whatsit shook her beautiful head.  "It won't go into your words.  I can't possibly transfer it to your words.  Are you getting any of it, Charles?"            Charles Wallace sat very still on the broad back, on his face an intently listening look, the look he ...

Wow. So much had happened and changed in the last year. It's hard to know whether to take the time and write it all down or to just enjoy it and go on from here. I have stopped writing on the Art Chick blog because I feel like I have nothing left to say from that part of me anymore. I'm leaving it up for a bit because there are some posts there that were my way of working through our family struggles and life in general. Our life in Maryland seems like a million miles away now; Liam had yet to be diagnosed, I was still the mother of young children and very confused about who I was and how I was supposed to live my life. It's been a bit more than three years since our move to Ohio and though I miss our friends and miss the East Coast in general, I cannot honestly say I miss that time of my life personally. Our first year or so here was interesting. At the time I didn't realize it but looking back I can see definite lines God drew in the sand saying, "I dar...

I'm telling you, if you're a believer and you're struggling with something with deep roots, trying like crazy to dig to the bottom of it, worship will do it every time. My dad was saying yesterday that it's like a prayer language that totally intimidates the enemy and he has to flee when it begins. And I think it's also like fire and the enemy, like sin, is completely flammable. When we walk into the presence of the Lord-- whether we dance, crawl or limp in, singing-- the consuming fire that is His holy presence begins to burn away the dross in us. And the enemy, who would press my face into my navel, not looking for the Lord, cannot stand that holy presence. I think that's a big part of the whole mystery. It shows up in the psalms all the time-- start off with "OH, woe is me..." and end with "You alone are perfect in all Your ways! Praise You!" Anyway, I'm standing there with suds and water all over my hands and somehow all over my arm...

I'm not really sure how much of my personal life I want to talk about on this blog. I guess inasmuch as it applies to my thinking on my faith or my art. I know it won't be a static thing and will change as my life changes (and yes, I did look up the correct spelling of "inasmuch" before I typed it.) So I've been doing some comfort reading the last few weeks. It takes the place of comfort food for me... ok, let's be real, sometimes comfort food accompanies the comfort reading... Anyway, "comfort reading." For me, that means going back to those books and authors that lead me back to where I plainly see God's glory and that this life isn't what it's all about. These are the books that open my eyes, wake me up again. This latest bought of comfort reading was brought on by a seriously stressful mid-July that culminated with having to cancel our summer trip to Maryland, get Liam back into therapy, and deal with the fact that our ...

Rusty and I were talking about how lately we've heard a little more talk than usual about how people feel they deserve more or deserve better.   The funny thing is that if we were really given what we deserve, it wouldn't be pretty.  Thanfully ( so thankful) we don't get what we deserve.  We get grace.  We get love and forgiveness. In thinking more about this friend dealing with illness, I get a knot in my stomach.  Because I know that God doesn't owe us anything.  Our version of "good" or an answer to prayer would be sudden and total healing and a long life here on this earth.  But God exists in a bigger reality where the whole picture is available whereas we're only seeing the view from where we are at any given time and place.  That's scary!  It's sobering to say one minute, "God is good.  All the time."  And to really, honestly believe it.  Then the next minute a loved one dies or someone is diagnosed with a dis...

I'm going to be honest and say first that I have no idea what I'm going to say. There. That makes me feel better, eh? During Easter weekend we had very dear friends staying with us. The oldest of the Helwig children had borrowed A Wrinkle in Time the month before. He came back very much excited and wanted to know if there were more books by that author (Madleine L'Engle.) Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to hear that I was happy... moved... to be able to tell him that no only were there more books by the same author but that she wrote three more in that series involving Meg and Charles Wallace. These books, along with C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy and some of his others that make me excited and hopeful for our kids to see the kingdom in the everyday. Here's the weirdness (and bear with me, I promise I have a point.) I started reading the Harry Potter books this past week. I'm a very fast reader. It's a blessing a curse, trust me. I...

Those of you who know me know that my two favorite authors are C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L'Engle (yes, I'm a Narnia fan.  But my favorite Lewis novel is actually Perelandra  and every time I re-read it I end up in tears for the possibility of what we, as humanity, lost the moment we fell in the garden.) I've read this quote by C.S. Lewis before.  But when I rediscovered it today, it made a deeper impact especially considering yesterday's post: The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe, or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father...

It's been three weeks since my sister's husband died.  I've been doing a lot of praying since then.  And a ton of writing in my notebook.  There is a patch from yesterday that I think relates to the idea of faith and art and why we create in the first place. Dated 12/5-08: ...I'm conflicted because one moment I seem to "get" that this life is temporary.  I mean, I don't just acknowledge it but really fully feel it.  This world and this life is only a very bad copy of what we're created to be and of the reality that God exists in.   I sense it so strongly sometimes that I almost feel like I could go out and kick the car in the driveway and it would crumble up like tissue paper.  And if I blew into the air the clouds would part and the sky would ripple like a curtain - that's how strong a sense of falseness I have at times about this life.  But then I stick out my foot and rest it on the coffee table.  And realize how hard and solid ...

Hey there! So you may be wondering what this photo has to do with faith and art.  You may be wondering what happened to faith and art and what happened to this blog since it's been a while since anything has been posted.  Well, it's here.  I'm here.  And here's the deal - this isn't just an "idea" anymore (I've tried to link back to specific posts or other things that explain... re-introduce... the hopes I have for this blog, the group and the idea overall.) This whole Faith & Art thing is what I honestly feel like is God's gift to me.  Not gift  as in "I'm so gifted" or "my gift is my art."  But gift  as in God loves me so much that He decided He would plant this idea because He knew that it would bless my life in my thinking and my actions and that it has been a seriously great thing for me in that even when I'm not posting, the faith and art connection is something that is woven through just about ev...

I've started this post so many times before but deleted in the name of sanity or common sense or just plain being unrealistic.  Or possibly offending someone.  But I feel like I'm being dishonest anymore.  I have to get this out. I posted this a while back  and talked through whether it was about the building itself or if it would work somewhere else.  It then turned into "can it happen in the suburbs?" and I honestly tried to convince myself it could.  I wanted it to be able to work in the suburbs, so I could still be on the rational side of things.  But the reality is that I don't think it can.  Not on the scale it needs to be.  That I feel God wants it to be.  I feel like my brain works differently than most of the people around here.  Where they see "bigger and better" I see people living with blinders on.  People need to wake up and see the creativity all around them, the creation of the One True Creator.  An...

Yeah. So, um... Hi. I'm not sure what to say because it's been so long. I started this blog with really high hopes and lots of ideas. The reality of our move set in and things happened and now it's October. I just typed out an explanation of what things have been like and why I've been absent. But it felt really wrong for this space. Over the last two months, since we've moved into our new place in Cincinnati (we moved from Maryland to Ohio in August) I have had zero creative time. My work room is a mess of bags and boxes. I haven't had my hands in the ink and glue for literally months. And apparently I've really missed it, though I didn't realize it until today. Or I guess I already knew I missed it, but didn't realize why until today. Today, we found our new church. To be honest, we haven't been to church since we've been here. We knew we didn't want to go back to Vineyard* but we didn't know where to go otherwise. ...