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…what is the speed of mind?
I have decided to start an art journal practice. More often that not, my “art journaling” is more journal than art. I want to strengthen my non-verbal side as well, so I’m committing to making a page like this at least once a week.
The title comes from a part of the page that was left visible, not obscured by paint.
8.5 x 12 Strathmore mixed media visual journal
matte medium
pages from “Sri Isopanisad” paperback
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (rusty hinge)
acrylic paint (Liquitex basics)
water
salt
sparkly bits
Tools used – paper towel, flat brush, yogurt lid
On geodes and cracks and God
Leonard Cohen says – “There is a crack in everything. / That’s how the light gets in.”
The Gospel tells us –
A man who was deaf and had a speech impediment was brought there by a person who begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man and heal him.
Jesus led him away from the crowds so he could heal him privately. He put his fingers in the man’s ears, spat, and then touched the man’s tongue. He then looked up to heaven, sighed deeply, and said in Aramaic “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”) The man was instantly freed from his afflictions and was able to see and speak perfectly.
He ordered the crowd to not tell anyone about what had happened, but the more he ordered them, the more they spread the news. They were amazed and told everyone “He does everything well! He even makes deaf people hear and cures people of being unable to speak!”
MK 7:31-37 (From The Condensed Gospel rendition)
The outside is boring and dull on a geode. There is nothing special to see. But when you crack it open, there is amazing beauty inside. This is how God sees us – beautiful on the inside. God sees what others cannot. Also, I find it excellent to mediate on the fact that you can’t see the beauty until this rock has been broken open. It is the trials that we undergo that bring out our true nature.
Gifts to Jesus – an Epiphany meditation
So what gift are you going to give Jesus today?
Remember the story of the little drummer boy? I think it’s appropriate that the story of the Magi happens on the 12th day of Christmas, the one with the 12 drummers drumming in the Christmas carol “The Twelve days of Christmas”. We often talk about the gold, frankincense, and myrrh that Jesus received from the Magi but I think what is most important is the gift that the drummer boy gave him. He gave him the only thing he could give him. He didn’t give him anything that had to be wrapped. He gave him his best. He played his drum the best way he knew how, from his heart. That is the kind of gift to Jesus wants. Jesus wants us to give the best of ourselves to him and for him.
Jesus often says in the Gospels “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”. When he says that, he’s quoting from the prophet Hosea. Jesus doesn’t want your money. He wants your love and your service and your heart and your compassion.
So often, people talk about all that Jesus has done for them. They talk about how he sacrificed his life for their sins or how he promised them eternal life. They talk about how he saved them. But what happens after that? This isn’t a one way transaction. After that is when we have to prove ourselves worthy of that gift, “to bear fruit worthy of redemption”. That is when we have to give our gifts.
We give gifts to Jesus when we feed the hungry, show compassion, volunteer our time to help people who are needy. We give gifts to Jesus when we open our hearts and our homes to people who are fleeing injustice and war and oppression. We give gifts to Jesus when we treat every single person as if they are Jesus, remembering that he said “Whatever you do to the least of these you do to me”.
These are not toys.
I was at a movie theater recently and took a look at the toy dispensers. These are the ones that you put in a quarter (or three), turn the knob, and a plastic ball comes out with a toy inside.
The usual things were there – bouncy balls, cheap rings, stickers – and then there were these.
Here’s a closer shot.
Grenades. Army tanks. Jet fighters.
But wait – there’s more. There were two machines with questionable stock.
and closer-
Handcuffs and grenades.
These are marketed to children? These are supposed to be toys?
And we wonder why our children are violent.
We reap what we sow. We must be more mindful of what we teach our children to admire. If we give them weapons for toys, what will the harvest be? Who will they become?
Poem – what Church really is
I dream of a world
where people understand
that you don’t
go
to church.
You are Church.
That service is what God wants,
not hymns,
not prayers from a book.
Where people see every window
as a church window
and see the whole world
through it.
Where church buildings
are more like
thrift stores,
the Red Cross,
food banks,
soup kitchens.
Where they aren’t a place
to escape the world
but to equip people
to serve it
– not by preaching the Gospel
but by being a living example of it.
Poem – What gets you up?
What gets you up?
You have to have a reason
for getting up in the morning
and for making it
through the day.
Children? Work? Art?
What brings you joy? Do that.
What does the world need? Do that.
Can you get paid for it? Even better.
But even if you can’t,
do it anyway,
because it will feed your soul
and that kind of nourishment
can’t be bought
in a store.
There is no nutritional supplement
for a soul deficiency,
like there is for scurvy.
Rumi says: “Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”
Buechner says: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
Poem – This is not a Christmas present
This is not a Christmas present.
This is hatefulness.
This is the exact opposite
of a present at all,
much less one celebrating
the birth of Jesus.
This is pure aggressiveness.
There is nothing passive about it.
The label is superfluous.
It is quite obvious
what he thinks
about his sister
from how he has packaged
his “gift”.
If this were given to me,
I might set it on fire right in front of him.
I might take it outside first.
I might put it under a steamroller.
I might shoot it with my revolver.
I might tie lead weights to it
and throw it into Percy Priest Lake.
Under no circumstances would I open it.
It doesn’t matter what is inside.
Gold bars?
Enough money
to pay off my mortgage?
The key
to my dream art studio?
A contract
for a personal chef and gardener?
No gift is worth this.
Sure, it wouldn’t take long
to cut through these cable ties.
Maybe an hour.
Maybe a few pairs of scissors
would get destroyed
in the process.
That isn’t the point.
My friend,
I’m telling you
this truth:
don’t take any “gift”
that is given
with this much hostility.
It isn’t worth it.
Walk away from it,
and that person.
That is the best present
you can give
yourself.
“Travel by Stamps” is now available!
So apparently I like making books.
“Travel by Stamps” is a picture book using stamps for the illustrations. I wrote and assembled the story in a tiny travel journal first. Then I scanned the stamps and typed up the words to the story, changing the layout to suit the new format of a printed work.
This was created for fun and as an homage to art journalists. I can’t sketch very well yet, but I’m learning quite a bit about layout and design for when I do.
This is available in print and e-book from Amazon. It is only 42 pages, but because it is full color it is more expensive than would be expected for a book that size.
Chanukah books for children
These are very good picture books for children that are about Chanukah. I will add to this list as I find more.
Simon and the bear: a Hanukkah story by Eric A Kimmel
The menorah story by Mark H. Podwal
Hanukkah Bear by Eric Kimmel
The Count’s Hanukkah Countdown (from Shalom Sesame) by Tilda Balsley and Ellen Fischer
betsybeadhead 
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