“A pilgrimage is not a journey toward transformation…but a transforming journey.” – Jonathan Omer-Man
Solvitur ambulando /ˈsɒlvɪtər ˌæmbjʊˈlændoʊ/ is a Latin term which means: It is solved by walking.
Sometimes, the journey itself is the destination. It doesn’t matter where you go – just that you go. Get moving. Get going. Moving at all is healthy, for body, mind, and soul.
“A goal is not always meant to be reached. It often serves simply as something to aim at.” – Bruce Lee
The Jewish priests in the time of the Tabernacle had to use the Urim and Thummim because they could not hear from God themselves. Moses could – all prophets could. Note that Moses was not the high priest – his brother Aaron was. They had separate roles.
They were the “Navi” (the Hebrew word for prophet) – an entirely separate group of people that often lived apart from people, sometimes alone in the wilderness. God could speak at any time, and they had to be ready. It was hard to integrate that task with “real life”. They were not provided for as the priests were. They did not receive the tithe as payment for their services as the priests did.
It is important to note the tithe in the early church was only used to help those in the community who were less fortunate – those who were sick or out of a job, or didn’t have family to help them. It was never intended to pay the salary of a priestly class, as there was not supposed to be such a thing. It was actually forbidden to have priests, as it created a separation in a Body that was meant to be One. We are all meant to be equal like siblings rather than have those who are higher or lower.
Even today, when a prophet hears from God and tells the priest (self-styled, for their authority comes from man and not God) they are ignored along with the message like many prophets in the past were. Of course they are – because the “priests” are incorrectly exercising control over the church. To admit that they are wrong would mean that they must get past their ego and let God be in charge – not them.
Page about what it means to be in community, to work together. Do we need to live in the same area to be in communion? The communion of the disciples – they shared everything. Is this a way for us to save money – to defeat the housing crisis, the sense of alienation and loneliness? To help those who have nobody to help them (spouse has died, family is abusive). We are made to be together – not to be separate islands. The Tiny House movement would work well if people shared major resources – washer/dryer, lawn equipment. This is how monasteries work – don’t waste energy on things you can share. Have time/energy left to help others.
Base is from “Stampington and Company” magazine. Someone else made it. I found the stamps on some mail that was sent – either to work or my house. I like how they look together – but also that penguins have to live and work together to survive. I like how the red and blue make purple – a synergy – a greater than the sum of the parts.
Tim Holtz words, white gel pen (the brand I found out from someone else on an artist group page). Fortune cookie message.
Made 2/2/17 In response to the difficult feelings in the country and the world about the current President. It is hard to believe what a circus it is. Meditating on peace, and on what good that comes from brokenness. It is a time of great change. Rumi says that you can’t make bread without grinding up grain. You can’t grow a crop without breaking up the soil first. It feels that all the ugliness that has simmered underneath has finally risen to the top. I feel that I’ve come to trust this upheaval as a sign that things are moving. The stagnation is over – people are waking up.
I wrote the journaling in fluorescent pens so that I can read them, but they are not easily visible here. Sometimes journaling is private, but the art is meaningful. I’m trying to figure out how to share and yet be private at the same time. Some people use hard-to -read lettering – but then I won’t be able to read it myself later. Or do I need to read it again? Perhaps the art of writing it in the first place is enough.
Gesso, acrylic paint, magazine clippings, aluminum candy wrapper – showing the value in recycling and re-visioning. Tim Holtz words. Gel pens. Glue stick.
I wrote these quotes with a plain ink pen, then painted over them using Tim Holtz’s Distress Ink. I used the ink as if it was watercolor. The colors are vibrant and translucent on the page.
Details –
God has no need for you to give up chocolate, or playing video games, or wine, or meat, or whatever material thing that you’ve picked, for Lent. In fact, Jesus did not create Lent. The whole idea of giving up something for 40 days does not exist in the Gospel at all. Sure, Jesus fasted (unintentionally) for 40 days while he was in the desert being tempted by the devil. But that doesn’t mean you are supposed to.
Sometimes you have to give up something in order to make yourself appreciate what you do have. We need to remember that everything we have comes from God. We need to remember that we do not control our lives, and that we are not the authors of them. God is. But what God really wants is for us to give up our own wants and tend to the needs of others. God wants our sacrifice of time to help other people, instead of money or offerings. You cannot buy your way into heaven.
Psalm 51:16-17
16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 (the prophet Samuel speaking to Saul)
22 Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice,to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry.Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,He has rejected you as king.
Hebrews 13:16
16 Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
Micah 6:6-8
6 What should I bring before the Lord
when I come to bow before God on high?
Should I come before Him with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?
7 Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams
or with ten thousand streams of oil?
Should I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the child of my body for my own sin?
8 Mankind, He has told you what is good
and what it is the Lord requires of you:
to act justly,
to love faithfulness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Isaiah 58:3-11
3 “Why have we fasted, but You have not seen?
We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed!”
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.
4 You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.
5 Will the fast I choose be like this:
A day for a person to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,
and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you,
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
9 At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer;
when you cry out, He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you get rid of the yoke among you,
the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,
10 and if you offer yourself[e] to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness,
and your night will be like noonday.
11 The Lord will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden
and like a spring whose waters never run dry.
Amos 5:21-24
21 I hate, I despise your feasts!
I can’t stand the stench
of your solemn assemblies.
22 Even if you offer Me
your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
I will have no regard
for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice flow like water,
and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.
Zechariah 7:4-10
4 Then the word of the Lord of Hosts came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these 70 years, did you really fast for Me? 6 When you eat and drink, don’t you eat and drink simply for yourselves? 7 Aren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and secure, along with its surrounding cities, and when the southern region and the Judean foothills were inhabited?”8 The word of the Lord came to Zechariah: 9 “The Lord of Hosts says this: Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.
——-
All Bible translations are HCSB
Want to hear what living in France is like from an outsider’s perspective? Try these books –
Nonfiction
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle (Provence)
A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway (Paris)
The Olive Farm by Carol Drinkwater (Provence)
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart (Paris)
Fiction
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (Paris)
Do you have a child who is having a hard time reading? Do you want to transition them away from comic books to slightly more challenging material? Here’s a good starting place. These books (many are series) have many simply-drawn illustrations – some several per page.
Angleberger, Tom- Origami Yoda (series)
Bolling, Ruben- EMU club (series)
Brallier, Max- Galactic Hot Dogs (series)
Cronin, Doreen- Into the Wild
Fry, Michael- The Odd Squad (series)
Kinney, Jeff- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)
McMullan, Kate- School! Adventures at the Harvey N. Trouble elementary school
Patterson, James- Middle School (series)
Peirce, Lincoln- Big Nate (series)
Pilkey, Dav- Captain Underpants (series)
Pinchon, Liz- The Brilliant World of Tom Gates
Russell, Rachel Renee- The Dork Diaries (series)
Skye, Obert – Creature from my closet (series)
Smith, James- Barry Loser (series) includes “I am still not a loser” and “I am so over being a loser”
Stilton, Geronimo- Geronimo Stilton (series)
Watson, Tom- Stick Dog (series) and Stick Cat
Here’s a radical idea – instead of America spending more money on defense, how about we spend it on building and upgrading our renewable resources so we don’t need oil. Solar, hydroelectric, wind power, etc. The countries we are at war with over oil will no longer have us as a customer. They will go broke. Our citizens will not have to be harmed by being soldiers. No more worries about oil leaks in water. The air will be clean. Seems simple.
betsybeadhead 
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