Miracles

 

It is hard to live this way today as I am sure it was in Jesus's day. The Romans were not known as a kind and loving people. If anything the were cruel and sadistic rulers. Much of the world today is anything but forgiving. There is a lot of hatred, jealousy, deceit and avarice the world over, including this country. Many are the individuals whom Jesus says see but are blind, hear but are deaf. There are many references to these individuals in scripture. One of the shortcomings of these individuals is the inability to see the miracle of existence. If you appreciate that, then all of existence is a miracle. If you look around and everything is a miracle that meets your gaze you understand. From the smallest particle of dust to the largest reaches of the universe to that which is unseen is all a miracle. It doesn't matter if science explains it or not. It is still a miracle. The wonder begins with our coming into being and seeing, hearing and touching the miracle of being here and alive. To not feel this way is to miss so much of the wonder of our lives.

The image today is from Clearlyvintage.com, a free vintage site. (This site is not accessible. It is up for sale) It is titled "Christmas-tree Lane". This took some time to do. In fact I did it twice because the first time it was a mess when it was almost finished. Getting the snow to sparkle was a problem. I used a water color with fine glitter in it but it was opaque when it dried. I switched to Wink of Stella solve that.

Since the site is currently not accessible I am including this original download for anyone who wishes to try coloring it. You will find that it is not even in all dimensions so I left a slight border around it.

This is my finished version of the scene. I think it turned out fairly well. The Wink of Stella clear pen was perfect for getting the sparkle to show and still see the colors underneath to show through. 
 The Copic Colors are;

The Wink of Stella pen is in the upper left corner.

That is it for this week. May the good Lord bless and keep you safe. Remember to always "Love The Details." Commenting is still open to all who visit.

Genius

What is genius? I think it’s safe to say that intelligence, creativity, and outside-the-box thinking are all part of making a genius a genius. This, of course, does not limit on which side of good or evil it is used. The devil is the ultimate evil genius. We humans are capable of ranging through the full gamut of genius output. The highest I.Q. recorded is a bit subjective but what I have found is 228. Albert Einstein's was estimated to be 160-170. The average I.Q. is between 85 and 115. 100 is considered to be normal. What is considered genius (mensa) is 130 or higher. Why am I going into this subject on my blog? It is not important that we are geniuses. The capacity to think outside the box or be highly creative does not mean we are of no merit. The thing that is important is the quality of our humanity toward others. No matter the IQ our ability to treat of others kindly, with compassion and justly is important. (John 15:12) IQ or some other measure of ability or status does not mean you are above the command Jesus left us to love one another as he loved us. He saw the heart not the IQ. The heart was His measure of a person's status with God. Having high status in this world took a back seat when it came to whether or not you were worthy to enter heaven or not. (Acts 1:20-26; Psalms 113:7-9) 

Today I am sharing another image from Imagine & Do from Finland. Such drawing talent should be a celebration. This is one of several images the artist has created that are by far my favorites. 

The Copic colors are:

That does it for this post. May God bless you and keep you safe. Remember to always "Love The Details."

Please pray for world peace and harmony.