I Didn't Plan on This [jana]

I didn’t plan on this. So I was working on a great article up until yesterday afternoon at 6pm. Yesterday at about 6pm, I got a phone call inviting me to come and work with a pastor who is going to preach on Daniel’s dream interpretation in Daniel chapter 2.

Essentially, the idea is for me to paint while he preaches, for three different services on Saturday and Sunday. It’s an exercise that, were I not involved, I would approve of wholeheartedly. Bringing artistic expression into the church? Inviting artists to express the inexplicable mystery of dream, hope, interpretation, faith, and foretelling through their work and share it with the church? Fabulous ideals. I applaud the notion. Bravo to the church, for incorporating the arts.

Me, Lord? Are you kidding me? I haven’t picked up a brush in a while…I am a dabbler in the arts. I am not a professional, I don’t have that direct line from insight to creation…I, I, I….

From a book I was reading:

“Humility is throwing away oneself away in complete concentration on something else…the concentration of a small child at play is analogous to the concentration of the artist of any discipline. In real play, which is real concentration, the child is not only outside time, he is outside himself. He has thrown himself completely into whatever it is that he is doing. A child playing a game, building a sand castle, painting a picture, is completely in what he is doing. His self-consciousness is gone; his consciousness is wholly focused outside himself…when we are self-conscious, we cannot be wholly aware; we must throw ourselves out first. This throwing ourselves away is the act of creativity. So, when we wholly concentrate, like a child in play, or an artist at work, then we share in the act of creating.”—madeleine lengle

From a customer who prayed for me over the phone and then sent a follow up email:

“trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light…Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him, do not fret because of him who prospers in his way…do not fret—it only causes harm…those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” Psalm 37

With that kind of influence, who’s to argue?

Better article next time, folks. I would also appreciate your prayers this weekend.