Have You Ever Wonered

The Amazing Thing about Scripture is that it Is Timeless. It is accurate and relevant more than 2000 years after it was written.

There are times when reading the scriptures and the gospels that I stop and ask why is that happening this way. Has This ever happened to you. There are some things that the scholars are trying to explain but find it difficult if not impossible to explain and prove. Others are relatively simple to explain. Much of the new testament is fairly cut and dried, or is it? The star of Bethlehem is a mystery and probably will always be so. There are many theories and suppositions as to what it could have been, none of which are proven or universally accepted.

For me there are many questions. Two of them are:

1. Why did Herod send troops to kill children from 2 years of age and younger if Jesus was in swaddling clothes?

2. Why is there no record of the deed in historical records?

Interesting enough the answer can be had by knowing the conditions and times that Jesus lived in. First of all is the slowness of transportation at the time, mostly by foot or camel.Until the wise men traveled to Israel, stopped and queried Herod of the birth of Jesus, found Jesus and left Israel without returning to tell Herod what they found and the time it took Herod to realized they would not return, it is most likely that the better part of two years had passed. Jesus could have been more than a year old when the slaughter of the children took place. As to why the deed is not in any records, Bethlehem was only a small village at the time comprising only a thousand or so inhabitants. unlike today, this was not an uncommon occurrence in ancient mid eastern civilization. The deed would not necessarily have been taken note of for a small settlement such as Bethlehem in historical records. 

What is my point? Knowing some of the history and living conditions at the time of Jesus brings the reality of the life of Christ into vivid focus and brings better understanding of some of the things Jesus and the others mentioned in the bible said and did. It is not a lessening of the reality of Christ but an enrichment of it. It creates a feeling of being there. It gives an understanding of the conditions and what the purpose of the actions and words were at the time. For me it is astounding that to this day the words of Christ and God are still very much alive. By understanding the reality of the living conditions then it becomes even more wondrous.

After the holidays I need to find out who is still blogging and who is no longer following. At that time I will once again start giving shout outs. Tank you for your patience.

I have two Christmas cards to share with you today. I do not remember whom they were sent to but I know they have been received. They are both created from Stamps Happen stamp company. Sorry I could not find these stamps for sale anywhere so no link is provided. The Company owning the rights is Custom Rubber Stamp Company. Many of the stamps are discontinued.

The Copics used: C2,Y11, Y28, BG18, Y02, E000, E43

The image was fussy cut fastened with Sookwang tape. The halo was tricky. I left a small strip of card stock to connect the images and used a razor knife to cut it off after it was fastened to the card face and silver halo. The silver and the gold for the halo and star were scraps from my stash. The Noel was created in Word, cut out and attached with Sookwang tape. The card face was also scrap from my stash.

The next card does not have a Copic list with it. It was about the time I first started to note the colors used ( Several years ago ). This image is called Angel of Light. Again there is no Image for sale to refer to and is more than likely discontinued.

This was one of the harder images to color because of the fine detail. It was fussy cut and fastened to the card stock with, what else, Sookwang tape. Smile. The Stars and snowflake are Starform glitter stickers. I didn't have a star to use as the star of Bethlehem so a snowflake stick was use to represent it. 

A delicate gold "Stamponit" sticker was used at  the fold inside the card for a little extra interest. Not very fancy but effective.

That is it for today. I appreciate your stopping by to visit. Have a SAFE Happy New Year. Remember to always Love the Details. See you in 2016. (BOY THAT FEELS STRANGE)