VISUALIZING SPIRIT

for any artists out there with artists' block, here's a surefire remedy: wander the streets of New York City. last weekend, i was down there with a friend and her dad and i was blown away at the amount of creativity and intriguing material we came across. but that's not what this post is about. ;p

during a discussion about the role of theatre, her dad said something to the effect of "art is the expression of the spirit." my friend responded by saying the difference between humans and animals is that we create art. on the surface, art seems frivolous - a waste of energy and material. but if you were to take art away, i think people would literally go crazy. so even though art is not a neccessity to physical survival, it is needed for mental wellness. so back to the expression of the spirit... this is where humans reflect the nature of God: in the act of creating something for beauty and/or expression. perhaps this is why people feel closest to God when they create (whether it be art, music or another human life)...

In the beginning, God created...
~Genesis 1:1~

IT WASN'T THAT EASY

so seven weeks after the release of a movie isn't too bad, is it? ;p yes, on the third attempt, my plans to watch The Passion of the Christ with my friend *finally* worked out. :D and now i can actually say that i don't think it was worth all that hype. not to say i thought the movie was bad. it was definitely a well made movie. and a powerful movie (which, i believe is due to having the most powerful story to begin with). it also did get people thinking about Jesus and hopefully more interested in reading the Bible for themselves (at least it did for my friend). but, it was a movie.

coming out of it, i had two main thoughts. the first one being, this is my life. this act that i and all the people in the theatre with me were watching is the reason i live. it's the reason i'm putting aside my theatre ambitions for at least this year. it's the reason why i'm taking one of the scariest steps of my life so far to move to a different country. it's the reason i breathe. it was actually kind of odd for me watching Christ's crucifixion portrayed on the big screen. Jesus' death and resurrection have always been an intensely personal experience for me. i mean, when i read the scriptures, i imagine it in my head, right? so here i am, watching someone else's picture of what they think it looked like. and my friend sitting next to me is essentially watching the core of who i am. weird.

my second thought came to me near the end of the movie. the words that came to mind as the camera panned out into a birds-eye view of the three crosses were, it wasn't that easy, which seams like a strange thought to come right after seeing such a graphic death. my first reaction to those words were, "easy?? easy???? that was hardly anything but easy..." but what it meant was that what i just watched was a movie. it was a bunch of makeup and latex. yes, it was hard work and an excruciating process for both the actors and the audience to go through, but in reality, we can never grasp the sheer massiveness of Christ's sacrifice. there is just no way we, with our finite minds, can ever fathom the extent of the experience - no amount of blood or torture will ever do it justice. no words, no images, no thoughts. we just don't know. and the worst experience we can imagine is comparatively easy to what it took for Jesus to defeat Satan. and all for us?!!!

so i come away from this movie realizing two things. one, that Jesus Christ is more real to me than i thought. and two, that i can identify with Paul when he said that he was the worst of sinners. i am taken aback at the graciousness and generosity of God. and i am in full admiration of the perseverence of Christ - that He did not turn away and take the easy road out.

all for me.

all for you.

all for us.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst.
~ 1 Timothy 1:15 ~

ALL MY STRENGTH

a story from my pastor:

a little boy was out playing in the sandbox one sunny afternoon when he came across a large rock in the middle of the box. not wanting it there, he tried to remove it. but small as he was, he could not lift it. it didn't even budge when he kicked it. finally, after a lot of pushing and straining, he managed to inch it over to the edge of his sandbox. but he still couldn't get it out. just then, his dad came out to check on him. seeing his dismay at the rock, the father asked him one question, "did you use all your strength to move that rock?" "of course, dad!" the child replied, "i've pushed, and kicked and tried with all my might! but the rock is still there." then, bending down to pick up the rock, the dad said, "no, son, you haven't used all your strength. you didn't ask me."

how many times we try to struggle on our own, thinking we've used all our strength, when there is a greater Source we haven't considered as ours.

If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
~ 1 Peter 4:11 ~

ONLY A LITTLE BABY GIRL

a song by A.B. Simpson (public domain)

Only a little baby girl, dead by the riverside;
Only a little Chinese child, drowned by the floating tide!
Over the boat too far she leaned watching the dancing wave.
Over the brink she fell, and sank, but there was none to save.

If she had only been a boy, they would have heard her cry.
But she was just a baby girl, and she was left to die.
It was her fate, perhaps, they said, why should they interfere?
Had she not always been a curse, why should they keep her here?

So they have left her little form, floating upon the wave.
She was too young to have a soul, why should she have a grave?
Yes, and there's many another lamb out on the desert wild
Thrown by the road and riverside, flung to the beasts of prey.

Is there a mother's heart tonight clasping her darling child,
Willing to leave these helpless lambs out on the desert wild?
Is there a little Christian girl, Happy in love and home,
Living in selfish ease while they out on the mountains roam?

Think as you lie on your little cot, smoothed by a mother's hand;
Think of the little baby girls over in China's land;
Ask if there is not something more even a child can do.
And if perhaps, in China's land, Jesus has need of you.

Only a little baby girl, dead by the riverside.
Only a little Chinese child, drowned by the floating tide.
But it has brought a vision vast. Dark as the nation's woe;
Oh, has it left one willing heart, answering, “I will go?”

My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
~Ezekiel 34:6~

"HELPING" DADDY

on top of my piano, there is a collection of pictures ranging from my baby photo to my high school grad portrait. nestled among the more faded ones is one that i'm particularly fond of. it was taken when i was about three. i was outside of our old house with my dad. perhaps it was a saturday afternoon when he didn't have to work, but anyway, the task at hand was transferring a large mound of topsoil from in front of our garage to the backyard garden. so there my dad was, metal shovel in hand, vigorously pitching the dirt into his wheelbarrow. beside him, i too was holding my little shovel (except mine was made of blue and red plastic) , trying to get the dirt into my toddler-sized wheelbarrow. my face had a look of concentrated determination. of course, i wasn't really helping all that much, but i think my dad enjoyed having my company and sharing the experience together.

i'd like to think it's the same with the way God chooses to let us "help" Him in His work. be it showing love to others or bringing about the salvation of the world by sharing the Good News about Jesus, God could really just do it all by Himself (and do it faster and better). but because He loves and desires to share the experience with us, He lets us in on what He's doing and gives us our own set of tools (our toddler-sized wheelbarrows, so to speak). we may make messes He'll have to clean up or we may need repeated instruction, but because He is a Father who delights in His children, that's what He does. and our role as children is simply watch what Daddy's doing and jump in and copy!

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.
~Ephesians 5:1~