Tribulation

 

  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world

        John 16:33

Tribulation is God’s threshing—not to destroy us, but to get what is good, heavenly, and spiritual in us separated from what is wrong, earthly, and fleshly. Nothing less than blows of pain will do this. The evil clings so to the good, the golden wheat of goodness in us is so wrapped up in the strong chaff of the old life that only the heavy flail of suffering can produce the separation.

                                                      J. R. Miller

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Growing up

This is one of my favorite poets and mystics. He is unique and relevant, even in today's world. I have many of his books in my library. He was a large influence in my younger years. 

 

Two of His writings:

"Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so also the bow that is stable."

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving." The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.

They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish. Surely, he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you. 

This week I am sharing the image you saw in my post last week. It is finished. It took almost a week to do and consists of more colors than any image done so far, a total of 30 colors. What made it so difficult was the details were either faint or made no sense. AI is far from perfected at this point. This was definitely AI generated.  

The Copics used are:

The two pens are multiliner brown and multiliner green. The zero blender pens were used at times to correct and to lighten the colors used.

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

Mysteries

 

What is the mystery of Christ? What is the mystery in the gathering of believers? What is the mystery of being spiritual? Why is it important to bring these mysteries together as one? Look at Christ. He knew himself. He knew Abba, Yahweh Sabaoth. He knew He was one with His father and His Father with Him. His Spirit was one with His Father and the Holy Spirit was with Him. Christ merged his spirit with His father through the Holy Spirit and became one. Christ repeatedly went off to be alone in prayer. He communed with Yahweh spiritually. He then gathered His followers around Him and blessed them with what would become their spiritual training, a guide for their spirits to follow. How many of you attend church because it is the thing to do? What do you take away from the congregation and the teaching of the celebrant? Do you go back to the same old same old? Why??? Is there a discussion of the word afterwards? Do you only go because it is considered required? Why do you only attend during the Christmas and Easter services? Do you think this will make you holy or give you some religious exempt status or to make you appear  religious? The mysteries of believing, becoming and living are only mysteries for those who seek happiness in the things that are not permanent. They are of this world and will not satisfy for very long. Pleasures, ownerships, wealth to name a few of the things that are thought to bring happiness only satisfy for a time and then grow old and are forgotten. Happiness without a spiritual awakening is temporary and not fulfilling. The Brainy Quote above alludes to that spirit of awareness, of oneness, not of just the world around us but of the one who created it. It is closer than you think and being one with the spirit of God holds the key to permanent happiness and joy.

Today is another House Mouse image. I called this one "Too much Fitz Fizz". Obviously the little guy lying at the base of the lime bottle is quite full and experiencing some fizz results. Makes me uncomfortable thinking about it. Fun image to color.   

The Copic colors used are:

As with the last post I will let you figure out what colors went where since there were so many of them. 

Until the next post, may The Lord Bless and keep you safe. Remember to always "Love The Details."