Revelation

 

This quote is food for thought. Not many of us think much about our souls. What is the soul? Can it be easily defined? There are many descriptions and definitions for the soul depending on where you look. The wikipedia states : "Refers to one's life". Other sources refer to the soul as that part of us where emotions and things that make us who we are reside. Others combine the spirit and soul as that part of us that lives on when we die. The prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take" infers that it is eternal. (Matthew 10:28, 1 Peter 2:11) Both refer to the soul as being damaged by negative actions (NRSV-NJB-KJB-NAB). The soul is referred to often in the old testament but only twice in the new testament, at least in the 4 versions I checked. I am sure the 20+ versions I have would be the same to some degree. Love is without question God, for God is Love. (1 John 4:8) 1 John is about god's love and our love for god. I don't know what that piece of soul is but I wouldn't be surprised if it was missing love. Love is the one thing that has the power to make us complete and acceptable before God. It is the one piece of our existence that our spirit needs to be eternal. There are many naysayers that say the spirit die when we die. Without love that may very well be true. Without love we are truly dead men walking.

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      There is little about me I do not know. If I share me and you share you, we shall become more complete.   This is friendship based on love.

 

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Others may see good in me but I see my sinfulness. It presses me on to You, to give myself to You. The good that others see is unsure and full of doubt since it is not yet complete. You are complete and it draws me near to You.  You are my hope and my dream for my life and the life of those around me. May Your glory be complete in us Lord Jesus.

             

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This week I am going to share another of the images from Moontear. There are still quite a few of them to share with you.

The copic colors used are:

That is it for this week. May the good Lord Bless and keep you safe. Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Selflessness

Have you ever felt compassion for someone even though you personally were in pain or stressed? If so then, at that moment, you understand what Christ went through. (Mark 9:19, Matthew 17:17)
Even though He was troubled by the generation He lived in, He still felt compassion for us. Even from the cross He had compassion on His enemies. (Luke 23:34) Life is not a sporting event where hate and competition rule. It is a place to learn what our place in eternity will be. There have been times when I have felt the pain of others was deserved and it was good. I then hang my head in sorrow at the thought of feeling that way. Who was I to think they deserved whatever was happening to them. There have been many times when others have done the same to me, although I doubt they later hung their heads in sorrow. We are not the ones to say who deserves what or why they deserve it. This world is on the brink of self destruction and there are many reasons to judge that it deserves that punishment. Then I see the destruction of war and the lives sacrificed as a result. All that I can feel is sorrow at the passing of the innocent as well as the warriors. It is sad the ways in which man finds to destroy himself and others. There are more important things to do than kill one another. It saddens me to live in times like this. I have had others who were hurting more than me show compassion for me when struggling. This is how things should be. It is called love for one another. It is called compassion and selflessness. If we cared less about power, jealousy and hatred this world would be a better place to live.

A few thoughts from the book that never was.

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Each waking day presents itself to the eye and mind uniquely and with opportunities anew. How sad we are unable to see them except through hindsight to take full advantage of them.

 

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In all of time why would I call myself special when so many others are so much like me?

 

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Where I go matters not and where I have been even my foot prints have altered the course of life and time.

 

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I have another image this week from Dreams Coloring Art. I am very happy with these images. They are detailed and not as great a challenge to know what I am coloring. It is uncertain whether these images were created in AI but I think many of the available coloring book style artwork images are now AI created. Some of these images have little areas that make no sense whatever and therefore are a guessing game to color.  

The Copic colors used are:

Just a note about the coloring of these, or any image for that matter, is that the smallest of detail is colored individually. Yep, even the hair when strands are visible. The copic Sketch pens have a super fine brush tip. The fine details must done with a light touch and great care. The paper used for this kind of work requires the paper not be too absorbent. Even the lightest touch on an absorbent paper can quickly ruin the image. If bleeding occurs, careful use of the "0" pen can erase bleeds or "oopsies". This is why the "0" pens are included in the colors used. Bad mistakes or bleeds are often "correctable" but may leave behind a stain mark. I experiment when using paper not used before. The "0" blending pens are great for cleanup of an image.

 

That does it for this week. May the good Lord Bless and keep you safe. Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Prayers of Confession

 
On many an occasion in my life I have had to ask for forgiveness, usually of another person. In recent years I have noticed a distinct lack of others asking for forgiveness of others. My thought is whether  not asking forgiveness carries to not asking forgiveness from God. Indications are that it does. In fact if we are not asking forgiveness of others it is most certainly not being asked of God for our sins. We could take a powerful lesson from the ancients in their way of confessing and asking for forgiveness. They went so far as to prostrate themselves face down in the dust to do so. There are few in this world today that would humble themselves in this way let alone ask for forgiveness face to face. I know I am guilty of the omission of asking the forgiveness of another. I do ask forgiveness of God for my sins. Confession is part of the process of forgiveness from God. I try to make it a point to confess the sins in my life as soon as I think of them. That means out loud and usually in private. The Lord is most gracious when done this way. No sin is too small to confess before Him. He is my confessor. Is he yours?    

I am well pleased with the images from Dreams Coloring art. I must admit that I am choosy about the images I pick to color right now. Male images  are a must for me after doing so many female images. Here is another of the images completed.

The Copic colors used are:

This was a challenge and fun to color. The detail is excellent in these images. That makes them a challenge to do and fun at the same time. Anyone who has done coloring of portrait style images knows that female and male images takes some adjustments in thinking to get good results. I am not a professional colorist but there are many differences to the two types of image. Making an image appear male or female is a matter of color choice.

That is it for this week. May the good Lord bless and keep you safe. Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Purpose

I am not sure what my purpose in life is but I try to follow what my heart tells me. I am not rich nor am I famous. I don't see either of them as being important in my life. I have had a decent life and have not wanted for much but neither have I had an abundance of things. My needs are filled with little left over if anything. I love astronomy and have built several telescopes over the years but, alas, the night sky is so bright that it is difficult to see the splendor of a dark sky filled with the stars of this galaxy we live in. I grew up during the second world war, the Korean war, the Vietnam war and chased Cuban gun boats when Russia put missiles in cuba. I was there when President Kennedy almost started a nuclear war while serving on a destroyer in Cuban waters. The times were good and bad during my lifetime. I never thought I would live as long as I have. God has been good, His Spirit watching over me and my family. Much of what I have shared in the book that never was were thoughts during those times. I thought it was time to share it on my blog. I feel more people will see and read it this way rather than try to have it published or even formally self publish it. I am not interested in a monetary compensation. It is more important that it shows that there are many possibilities in life and that God in ones life helps when it seems overwhelming. I am going to give the book a rest for the time being. 

I have always loved art and participated in several art contests in my youth. I have won a few of them but always did my best. I have been coloring mostly female images to display on this blog. I have been searching for male or young boy images to do but until recently have had little success in finding any. Finally I have a few images of boys to color. There are many more young ladies in the set but I have singled out the boys. They are from Etsy. This site on Etsy is "Dreams Coloring Art." I hope you like them as much as I enjoy doing them. They are more difficult in some ways than the female images. Enjoy!

The copic colors are:

The coat in this image was left "as is". The only thing I could have done would have been to highlight the shadows but that is not necessary. 

That is it for this week. May the good Lord Bless and keep you safe. Remember to "Always Love The Details."

The Impossible

The holiday season is past and we have celebrated what many in this world cite as impossible, a God who gave His only son so that those who believe might be forgiven their sins and have everlasting life. I know of many that say there is no God and just as many that say there is no life after death. They are the ones that the bible says are lost. Some of these lost souls will turn to God before they pass and be saved but many will not. The impossible is possible with the Lord.

More from the book that never was. 

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                      Solitude, "the desert experience," is life giving. It is the freshness of touching new life within myself. It is the peace in dedication to loving union between God, Spirit, nature, man and self. It is the flowing conversion into song of simple beauty beyond word or expression. It is the stripping of self into the naked real me.

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                      I am not sent to be remembered when I die. When I die few shall mourn but those who mourn shall themselves be mourned by many upon their death. I am sent for those that shall be remembered and therein shall I be  remembered. My honor falls not in life but in death that brings life.

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                   I seek in death what my body can  answer and understand now the answer to  what I seek. That answer is a question that is  short and definite. My life will be spent when I  finish hearing it. My death is my birth and my conception was but a thought of my coming to  be. I left a womb to enter a womb in  preparation for death to prepare for life. I seek  what cannot be found until I am still and when  I am still I find all the answers I seek.

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That is it for this week. I am working on some new images and will share one of them next week. I am sure you are tired of the Moontear images by now. There are more that are not shared by I need a change. Until then, May the good Lord Bless and Keep you safe. Remember to "Always Love The Details."