Lenten Labyrinth

30" x 30" Oil on Canvas

“It is finished.” My most daring painting project yet. Fans of my blog often tell me how much they like to know my thoughts behind the art. Well, this time, I painted my thoughts in the form of a labyrinth.

Labyrinths are ancient meditation tools. Unlike mazes, labyrinths are not puzzles to solve. They have the same entrance and exit point. The traveler merely wanders to the center and then journeys back out. The purpose is to journey into prayer and meditation while traveling through the Labyrinth’s many twists and turns. Although many labyrinths are large enough to walk through, most of the ones that I have been exposed to have been on paper. However, with paper ones, I find my eye finishing the journey in too short of time to fully engage in the labyrinth’s mystical potential. I decided to paint my thoughts and meditations into the twists and turns of a labyrinth in the hopes of rekindling its contemplative character.

For many Christians, the season of Lent is a time of deep reflection on the sacrificial life and death of Christ. Going though Lent prepares the heart for a more meaningful Easter. Traditionally, people devote themselves into a discipline for the season’s forty days. My discipline for this year was this painting project. The symbolism in this labyrinth reflect my thoughts influenced by my own lenten experience this year. Some inspirations came from worship, some came from explorations of scripture, and still others just came from Spirit-lead meditations on the life of Christ. Every inch is covered with paths of repeating symbols. Some are pictorial. Some are abstract. Some patterns involve specific numbers to add to their meaning. Others are purely random. Some paths are clearly defined, while some are harder to follow. Together, they take you into deeper thought about God’s Sacrificial love in Jesus Christ and what it means to live as a follower of The Way.

Because this labyrinth is meant to trigger your own contemplation, I won’t go into great detail explaining its meaning. I will, however, get you started. The labyrinth begins and ends with the black path at the bottom. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with Good Friday. Both are services about darkness, and death. Likewise, this Lenten Labyrinth begins and ends with the darkness of the cross.

Here are some themes you might find:

Lent

Covenant Relationship

Scripture

The Law

Discipleship

Betrayal

Servanthood

Readiness and Patience

Christ’s Passion

Deliverance

Abundance

Provision

Sacrifice

New Life

Love

The center is left blank. Empty, unpainted canvas. That is your place. Once you make it to the center, you can add your own thoughts. I welcome you to take some time out of your day to journey with this labyrinth. I would love for you to share what comes to YOUR mind when you reach the center, and what changes when you are finished.

Reminder

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

—Genesis 9:8-17

Rainbows are happy things. Their beauty fills us with wonder. They inspire our dreams and hopes for a brighter future. This was my third attempt to paint a rainbow. An earlier attempt was to put my own spin on the quintessential “happy” rainbow. It turned out very nice, and would go great in any child’s room or Sunday school class. But happy rainbows didn’t seem to satisfy me. They didn’t seem consistent with the context of the story. The story of Noah is one of great sorrow, loss and healing. I wanted to paint Noah’s rainbow—a sign of remembrance.

We are so tempted to cuddle up with the animals and bask in rainbow colors with our children. But recent natural disasters in our world awaken the realities of Noah’s story for me. I imagine the rainbow that Noah saw felt more like a peace offering. An assurance that this kind devastation would never happen again. An encouragement to a survivor trying to live in a “new normal.”

We assume the rainbow is meant to be a reminder for us alone. But the story repeatedly says that the covenant was established between God and humanity and ALL living creatures of every kind. It also proclaims that when the rainbow appears, GOD remembers the covenant as well. We see a rainbow and remember a story with a promise. God sees a rainbow and remembers an event and a bond with all creation—even to creatures who could never ponder the depth of such a sign.

So, I tried to paint God’s covenantal sign. The sign that appears after the storm—transforming chaos into peace and fear into hope. A loving reminder for God and all of God’s creatures on this earth. Our rainbow.

Carpe Diem

Why am I posting a fall painting to start the new year? I has to do with my new year’s resolution.

Typically, in late October, I bring my new paintings outdoors to photograph. One day, as I was setting up for the shoot, I was impressed by the beauty of the little tree in my yard. It was the perfect scene to sum up everything I love about autumn. The leaves were peak color. The sky was brilliant. Fall is my favorite time of year. I just love the mild temperatures, the crisp air, the changing colors and the long cast shadows in the afternoons. I believe I could live perpetually in autumn. But sadly, autumn is but a season. The colors here are only at peak color for just a week or two, if you’re lucky. Realizing the brevity of the moment that I was witnessing, I decided to stop what I was doing and paint the moment. I replaced the finished art on my easel for blank canvas and began to paint my little tree. And I am so glad I did. That evening, a weather front blew in. The next day, the tree was bare.

Each and every day is a gift from God. My resolution is to make the most of every day’s blessings. Rain of shine, I hope to live each day in gratitude. Life is too fragile and brief not to.

Happy New Year.

Israel

Let’s admit it. We all struggle with God. Our wants and desires are continually in conflict with God’s will for our lives. We struggle the hardest with questions of faith like the existence of evil and suffering in the face of an all loving, all powerful God. Here’s a little secret — it’s OK to wrestle with God.

Jacob wrestled with God in the 32nd chapter of Genesis. He wrestled with a mysterious stranger all night. When dawn approached the stranger dislocated Jacob’s hip and asked to be let go. Jacob agreed under the condition that he be given a blessing. The stranger declared that Jacob would, from then on, be know as “Israel” — a name that means “God Wrestler.”

This painting explores Jacob’s wrestling match on that life-changing night. The painting shows two opponents locked in conflict. It’s the kind of situation where the exhausted and weary opponents are supporting each other as much as struggling against each other. Their bodies are lit by a starry sky. The stars remind us of the Abraham’s covenant with God — that his descendants will be as many as the stars.

I would argue that God’s grace is big enough to allow us the honesty and freedom to wrestle. Like Jacob’s hip, God could put us in our place at any moment. Instead, God lets us wrestle — giving us support when we need it. The stars bear witness to our relationship with God. As Christians, we share in God’s covenants. We too are children of “Israel,” and therefore, “God Wrestlers.”

So go ahead. Let it out. Be like the Psalmists and cry out to God all that you consider unjust. We need not fear to approach God with our honest feelings, pains and doubts. Our questions do not alienate us from God. Rather, we encounter God when we question. There can be no FAITH without doubt. God’s steadfast love is strong enough to handle anything humankind can hurl at it. And when we DO wrestle with God, our perceptions of truth and the ways we live out our lives are forever changed.

Awake My Soul

Arise! Shine! Your Light has come!

These are some of the thoughts I wanted to convey

with this year’s Advent art.

Without God, all is darkness. Then God speaks a Word, and everything is forever changed into a new creation. During Advent, we welcome God’s coming into the dark places of our lives and awakening us from our dark slumber into renewed life. This is not a soft, passive awakening. It is cosmic alarm clock. It is the dawn of creation itself. God's loving light shatters the darkness and reforms it into a new, colorful creation. As the Gospel of John puts it, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

This Advent Season, may your life be so awakened, illumined, and reformed by the Light of God.

Holy Ground

Sometimes I wish that I could get a sign from God like Moses – so I painted one.

In the book of Exodus, God appears to Moses in the form of a bush, blazing as with fire, yet not consumed. God instructs Moses to take off his sandals, for he is standing on Holy Ground. God calls Moses to lead God’s people out of Egyptian slavery. This begins a wonderful dialogue between Moses and God, and sets into motion the great deliverance of God's people.

But for me, God reveals in more subtle, abstract and quiet ways. So subtle, in fact, that I could easily have missed it had I not looked with eyes of faith. I believe that God calls each of us to something great. Ok - maybe not as big as delivering a nation form slavery. But God calls us to acts of love that (to us) can seem just as impossible and frightening. But fear not. God is with us, believing in us, leading us, and empowering us to fulfill that call.

If you ever need a reminder that God is always with you, empowering you, and calling you to something great – here’s your sign.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Here we are, at the end of the Lenten season, about to remember the last supper and death of our Lord. I wanted to post this painting I made of our church's cross as a reflection of this season. Ironically, I took the photo on my way to Ash Wednesday service, at the beginning of the season. Our church is blessed with beautiful sunset views. I saw this scene and snapped a photo with my phone. But as I painted it, I realized this image reveals a lot more about Lent than I had initially seen.

First is the time of day. Dusk. A time where colors become passionate and vivid as the light of day descends to the horizon of darkness. The lenten story remembers the death of Christ, the "Light of the World." When he died, the world fell into shadow. I like how these dusk colors show the light not yet gone, struggling to illuminate with the stripes of mint blue, pink and purple close to the horizon.

Next is the moon. Good Friday and Easter are not celebrated on the same day every year like Christmas. The calendar is lunar-based as they are tied to the jewish Passover. The Passover was the context for the Last Supper.

There is the purple cloth. The cross is draped in purple during Lent. It conjures up thoughts of Christ's passion. He was mocked as "King of the Jews," adorned with a robe and a crown of thorns. Purple is a color associated with many lenten images. It is the color of royalty. It is the color of wine, the cup poured out for us. It is the color of bruising, for Christ was beaten, scourged and crucified. And I would contend it is a color of deep, deep love.

Then there is the wind blowing the cloth. The Holy Spirit is often described as wind. It makes a good metaphor for the Holy Spirit because like the spirit, wind itself is invisible and can only be seen by its effects. There was a lot of unseen power at work in the saving death of Christ. A power we can now see in its effect in our lives.

Finally, there is the cross itself. A shape resembling the manner in which Christ died. He was crucified – a tortuous, brutal death. But this cross is not really a cross of death. It is a cross of victory over death. It is empty. Christ is no longer here. He is risen. That is the surprise ending to the story. It is the good news and the Easter hope to which we cling. This is a Celtic Cross. The circle represents the halo of victory and the ring of eternity. Even as we take time to pause and reflect on Christ's death, secretly, deep down, our souls smile in the assurance that sin and death no longer has a hold on us.

So there it is. A brief moment at the end of an average day. A moment almost missed in the hustle and bustle of life, even going to church. A moment that, when seen with eyes of faith, can reveal a lifetime of mystery and an eternity of grace.

A good Holy Week to you all.

And a most happy Easter.