Love

Here is another painting form the series “Consider the Lilies.” A rose to help us consider “Love.” You can read more about the series in my last post on “Hope.” This is actually my first and only attempt to paint a rose. I have plans to do more. This rose is is in a misty environment. It has drops of water on the petals which I think adds depth to the meditation on love. Ok. You creative types will probably say that roses are so cliche. But the rose can still have some interesting insights to love. Its colors are passionate. It has many complex layers that unfold as it blooms. It appears delicate and vulnerable, yet stands strong against fierce storms. And it even has a bittersweetness in its thorns. As Valentine’s day approaches, please take a moment to ponder how profound is the concept of love, and how fortunate we are to possess the ability to love. Here is a favorite Bible passage of mine about love from the letter of First Corinthians, chapter 13. Ok. You Bible types out there will probably say that this passage is so overused. But like the rose, it is worth looking at with a deeper gaze of faith and wonder.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

I pray that we all take some time in our lives to “stop and smell the roses” and thank God for the gift of love.

Hope

Here in Middle Tennessee, we don't get much snow. We traditionally get a couple of snows a year. Only one of which accumulates to over an inch and a half. A blizzard by our standards. The thing is, we in the south get more ice than snow. Folks from the north laugh at how we freak out over the smallest dusting of snow. Whenever we get our "Big One" for the year, the whole place pretty much shuts down. This weekend, our area got a beautiful 2 to 7 inches of snow/ice. And there is much excitement in our neighborhood. But after the snow passes, we are left with a long season of cold and drab. By now, winter is getting old. I'm sure the folks in the north long for spring much more the we do. But even down here, where there is rarely snow, we too long for the warmth of spring.

Crocuses are heralds for the reign of spring. They are among the first signs telling us that new life is on it's way. They dare to bloom when all else is asleep and frozen. They remind us that death is but a season and that life will bear fruit again. They bring us hope for new beginnings. I bet we long for God's grace even more earnestly than we long for spring. And so we hope. We wait. We watch.

So I felt that it is appropriate today to post a painting of hope represented by a crocus blooming from the snow covered earth. This is one of three paintings in a series I like to call "Consider the Lilies." It is inspired from Jesus' lesson to not worry about what we will wear or what we will do. But rather consider the flowers of the field. They do not labor or toil, they just are. And they are beautiful by just being what they are. I wondered, "What other lessons we could learn from the flowers in our world?" So far, I only have three painted. But I'm convinced there will be more paintings in the future. The three I have completed were grouped in a set. They were "Faith, Hope, and Love." Paul tells us these three truths will remain when all else in the world is gone. The greatest of which is love.

But for now, let us consider hope.