Thursday, May 26, 2005
How to prepare
On one of the lists I belong to, the question was posed how do we as artists prepare to enter into the presence of the Lord so that our work is annointed. While I will readily admit I never really thought of it like that, this was my response.
I don't know exactly how it happens other than to say whatever things are good and pure and true think on these things. Let me explain, sometimes it comes after long periods of prayer and other times I will be listening to a song or I'll see something in nature and before I know it there is an idea that is burning a hole in my heart. The key is getting away by myself to have the time to think. I tend to believe that God has created me to be a visual learner and so often he sort of speaks to me in images. I'll give you an example, I was out prayer walking one morning and it was very quiet it was one of those great times of prayer where I am not the one doing the talking, but rather listening. I began to think about Jesus on the cross, and the sacrifice he made for me. The next thing I know there is this image in my head, I call it the point. It is painted on a full length mirror. OI covered the whole thing with while latex paint except for a cloud shaped piece at the top. Next I painted a full body picture of Jesus on the cross below the cloud. All you see in his face and his torso and some of the wood and so it is nearly lifesize. The cloud shape became a cartoon thought balloon. I mounted it on the wall so that the balloon is at about eye level. When anyone looks at the piece they get the point, when Jesus died on the cross you were on his mind.
Another morning the sun was coming up and a crescent moon was still visible. God used it to show me how we are the light of the world, that we are like the moon. I painted that scene in my worship service and did a sermon called John the moon. The scripture for it was from John Chapter one where John writes how John was not the light but bore witness to the light. That's how we are. We have no light of our own like the moon, we reflect the son.
I think the big thing is to be open to hear from the Lord and when the Spirit, (who sometimes seems to come and go as he pleases) is ready to move we need to be ready to go along.
On one of the lists I belong to, the question was posed how do we as artists prepare to enter into the presence of the Lord so that our work is annointed. While I will readily admit I never really thought of it like that, this was my response.
I don't know exactly how it happens other than to say whatever things are good and pure and true think on these things. Let me explain, sometimes it comes after long periods of prayer and other times I will be listening to a song or I'll see something in nature and before I know it there is an idea that is burning a hole in my heart. The key is getting away by myself to have the time to think. I tend to believe that God has created me to be a visual learner and so often he sort of speaks to me in images. I'll give you an example, I was out prayer walking one morning and it was very quiet it was one of those great times of prayer where I am not the one doing the talking, but rather listening. I began to think about Jesus on the cross, and the sacrifice he made for me. The next thing I know there is this image in my head, I call it the point. It is painted on a full length mirror. OI covered the whole thing with while latex paint except for a cloud shaped piece at the top. Next I painted a full body picture of Jesus on the cross below the cloud. All you see in his face and his torso and some of the wood and so it is nearly lifesize. The cloud shape became a cartoon thought balloon. I mounted it on the wall so that the balloon is at about eye level. When anyone looks at the piece they get the point, when Jesus died on the cross you were on his mind.
Another morning the sun was coming up and a crescent moon was still visible. God used it to show me how we are the light of the world, that we are like the moon. I painted that scene in my worship service and did a sermon called John the moon. The scripture for it was from John Chapter one where John writes how John was not the light but bore witness to the light. That's how we are. We have no light of our own like the moon, we reflect the son.
I think the big thing is to be open to hear from the Lord and when the Spirit, (who sometimes seems to come and go as he pleases) is ready to move we need to be ready to go along.
Comments:
Post a Comment
