What's It All About?

 I hear it a lot — what's going on in the world?!! Everything is nuts! Do you think we could end up in a civil war? I just don't see how all this is going to end well. 

Is Jesus coming back soon? 

That last one has really been trending in certain circles, which happens to be the one I'm in. Ever since Charlie Kirk was assassinated, it immediately lit a spark that has become a holy fire burning thru the whole world. Revival. Maybe the biggest ever, though I wasn't around for some of history's largest. It's all over social media: people buying Bibles for the first time; people who were brought up in church but walked away as adults; transgender people embracing God's original design and plan for their lives; churches overfilling that were until recently half empty; chat rooms and social media sharing this reawakening from every corner; Podcast stars bringing Christian guests to their shows; timid Christians becoming bold Christians. There are more people openly sharing the Gospel —I'm one of those. It just feels like time is short and more people need to know what the life-giving Truth is — who He is. 

At the same time, it feels like satan (doesn't deserve a capital letter) has come out of the proverbial closet and he and his legions is demons are on a rampage. Confounding evil including violence against Christians and hate if Christians. What did Charlie do but spread the Good News of Jesus and speak the truth from the Bible. He did it in love and with respect, but he was killed because of it. His widow was in DC accepting the posthumous American Medal of Freedom from President Trump — the highest honor of the nation. Charlie would have absolutely been the president one day, but God had another plan. Charlie was the flint against the stone of this world that started a fire that can't be quenched. If it is even possible to observe Earth from heaven, Charlie has to be beaming and jumping up and down. His martyrdom accomplished more for Christ than his life going forward might have. Thousands of not millions will be saved. What better purpose is there than that if you are a Child of God. 

This has been a momentous moment as the President has been working hard negotiating peace between Israel and Hamas. On Monday all 20 remaining live hostages were released and Israel released 2,000. The reunions with parents, wives, children brought me to tears. Two years suffering in hellish circumstances, not sure from the day to the next that you would survive. Oh, Lord, heal all those men, all those families. Restore what has been stolen from them and had their minds, bodies, and emotions. If they didn't know or accept Christ as their Messiah, I pray Lord this experience brings them into your kingdom through faith in your coming, your death, and your resurrection. God doesn't waste pain. Someone said that to me one time. I pray it's true. 

What's it all about? It's about Jesus moving in the world, separating the sheep and the goats. It's about his Spirit moving in people's hearts and softening them to ultimately save them. Yeah, He's coming soon—I think in my lifetime, but no matter when, I want to be ready. I want to live every day at if this could be the day, this could be the hour. 

What's Written In the Spaces

I'm a writer, and people who are writers have a tendency to extrovert their inner world, expressing pain, joy, a cry for help, a commentary, a realization, a discovery, a thought, or an exaltation through the written word. Sometimes it's necessary not to just read the words, but to read underneath the words and in the spaces between the words. Writers have something to say and hope someone will read the spaces in between where perhaps an ink and tear-stained soul is leaning against the page. Writing makes the worst moments hurt less. Writing evokes. Isn't that a good thing - something that can't be expressed with an emoticon, text, or meme in this abbreviated and all too often shallow world? As the world hurtles toward instantaneity, I find the act of writing is a sanctuary of the purest form of expression. It's an affirmation of my truest feelings and the complexities of the human condition. I'd rather be tucked into a quiet corner with pen and paper  engrossed in the thoughtful assemblage of words as the world rushes by. That's probably why I've kept a detailed journal for almost thirty years. I love to read but in this season of my life seem to lack the time. I've written poetry for many years - published none. Maybe I will  some day; I wonder, does anyone read poetry anymore? 

A couple of years ago I tried my hand at writing a whole book - 500 pages. It took me ten months and I learned a lot. I was told it was good, a nice thing to hear for a first-time author. Now I'm writing again, another book, the most important thing I will ever write; it's my purpose for now. It's hard, but it has made me slow down, to introspect and analyze. It is stretching my brain and taxing my soul - a lot. If I'm successful it will be a very important book, a healing book for me and some. It'll be an enlightening book for others - an education perhaps, one they never thought they would need. It's going to take a while but I hope it will be finished this year. My wild-haired dog, Cooper, sits on my desk ready with lots of wet kisses! Creating some colorful paintings and writing poetry, when inspired, will be therapy. I live at the beach and love walking barefoot in the wet sand; it's very grounding - literally and figuratively. If you know me, say a prayer - they keep me going. He knows what I need.

Back to Painting (Jan. 29, 2025)

I've taken a long hiatus from doing art. I never know why. Yesterday I cleaned my studio which was very dusty. Even the large canvas I've had sitting on my giant easy had have the settled first wiped off. So now I've just got to get in there and start getting back into my happy place because that's what happens. I have a large oil landscape commission but I'm going to warm up again with just my watercolors. 

Today I'm watching Cindy Barron paint the foreground of a coastal landscape here in California. Her technique is wonderful and she achieves such great mark-making using old raggedy brushes she's beat up. Great for texture and grasses, really just about anything. She loves Shiva Orange so of course I'll buy a tube since I so love orange. I saved the YouTube video demo. 

https://www.youtube.com/live/k5ygbt0SwJE?si=thr37xM3aQ8kPuDe

Why Do I Believe?

I believe in Christianity 

as I believe that the sun has risen, 

not only because I see it, 

but because by it I see everything else.

~ C.S. Lewis

George Carlson's Perpetual State Of Wonder

"We’re forgetting, because we’re becoming so anesthetized by gadgetry and virtual reality, how to let awe seep into our souls.”