*selah*

I had an amazing weekend at River View Arts Space in Lynchburg for their 17th Annual Juried Show #art #oilpainting #portraitpainting

“Why was so much done in remedying the evil instead of avoiding it in the first place?”

Notes on the early church from “Letter to Diognetus” Doesn’t sound very Christian Nationalist of them.

On the anniversary of the Cuban Missile crisis’ resolution: “We are told we can be safe only through the threat of escalating violence. Yet the redemptive means JFK turned to in a similar struggle was dialogue with the enemy. When the enemy is seen as human, everything changes” Jim Douglass

Please put “champion for the undervalued and vulnerable, to the point it irked some religious folk” on my tombstone. Put this next to backhanded complement in the dictionary:

“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them… the limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” - Frederick Douglass

Happy Remembrance Day, Oskar Schindler - a man who showed the power of clinging to decency and compassion in an unspeakably inhumane culture. That recipe can lead ordinary people to perform extraordinary heroism - like saving 1200+ lives. May our faith create the same kind of action.

“The times are bad! The times are troublesome! This is what humans say. But we are our times. Let us live well and our times will be good. Such as we are, such are our times.” Augustine of Hippo May the home continue to be a sanctuary of trust in a jungle of unpredictability. As for me and mine…

“What is it to be a companion of Jesus today? It is to engage, under the standard of the cross, in the crucial struggle of our time: the struggle for faith and that struggle for justice which it includes.” Ignacio Ellacuria, Jesuit martyr

“Bury us in wonder, LORD and raise us to sing your praise.” a short prayer I appreciate, as we’re all living in a culture where we “will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.” (Chesterton)

“When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of men we are…I am convinced that the truest active courage, the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others” C.Chavez

“Christ seeks from us deeds not words. Devotion [is]not sentimental but practical. If the Christian faith has no power to restore or recreate the human will,leading it to deeds of unselfish service,then it stands self-condemned” CF Andrews “Deenabandhu”(Friend of the Poor” to the Indians he served)

“Persecutions are to the works of God what the frosts of the winter are to plants; far from destroying them, they help them to strike their roots deep in the soil and make them more full of life.” Alphonsus Liguori May our roots grow deep, and even - like Redwoods - intertwine

“Each one according to his means should take care to be at one with everyone else, for the more on is united to his neighbor, the more he is united with God.” Dorotheus of Gaza

It is a great time of year when the @livingthestream.bsky.social theme song is back on rotation. Somehow everyone’s favorite poop pod is an oasis when the culture at large is a sh*t show (apologies to the kids, but much love @lateroundqb.bsky.social and @dennycarter.bsky.social)

On this day in 1831 a mere stone’s throw from where I live, Nat Turner led a slave revolt that lasted 4 days, killing 55 in the process. He did it because slavery was bad. May we have the same spine and courage when fragile folks in power try to pretend otherwise.

My wife and I have wildly different life expectancies due to her degenerative conditions, so the song “If We Were Vampires” has long been special to us. But it had proved elusive as a muse… until this month. Oil on 24”x20” canvas. #art #painting #oilpainting #portraitpainting

On this day in 1943, Franz Jägerstätter was beheaded in prison after conscientiously objecting to fighting for Hitler. “Christ too, demands a public confession of our faith, just as the Führer does from his followers.” Give us courage to confess your name, And go with you against the grain.

The 80th Anniversay of Hiroshima. A steady diet of anger and fear of those “not like us” can lead men to do monstrous things. May the Church continue to push back against our culture’s gravitational pull toward fear and anger, and instead press on to look more like Jesus.

Sitting in a waiting room, I was listening to two men talk about a female friend’s husband being deported to El Salvador while working construction. The man who was listening replied: “That’s funny.” And there you have what is rotten at our culture’s core summed up in two words.

“Those with whom Jesus identified himself are regarded by society as misfits. Jesus is that person who is hungry. Jesus is that person who is confused&naked. Wouldn’t it be extraordinary if we all discovered that? The face of the world would be changed” Jean Vanier ‘savior of people on the margins’

“Today our prime educational objective must be to form men-for-others… men who cannot conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for men is a farce.” Pedro Arrupe

In a culture built on white supremacy, the American Church has long looked down on those body parts that it deems lesser and treated them lesser. (see 1 Cor 12) It's not surprising that today's White American Church has a raging case of spiritual leprosy.

Much love to Jon Bellion for the album “Father Figure,” and for “Don’t Shoot” specifically. It plays like an anthem for parents & advocates of special needs, non verbal kids like my son. I love it so much that I made this oil painting on a 24x36 canvas to celebrate the song & my 👦🏾

The average American Evangelical church member often wants to control others and help himself. The Bible calls us to control ourselves and help others.

“It is a bigger miracle to eject a passion from your own body than it is to eject an evil spirit from another’s body. It is a bigger miracle to be patient and refrain from anger than it is to control the demons which fly through the air.” John Cassian, Desert Father

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how reading breeds empathy, as it helps you put yourself in another’s shoes. I’d imagine acting does that on another level.

The positive timeline cleanse you need if you’ve had a long week like me

“Our life does not consist in making up beautiful phrases but in performing beautiful deeds.” - Athenagoras A beautiful phrase 🙃 and a much needed reminder in our sound byte, social media post, political culture.

what you know about

“I read in a book that a man called Christ went about doing good. It is very disconcerting to me that I am so easily satisfied with just going about.” Toyohiko Kagawa - pacifist, evangelist, & labor activist.

In a world full of distractions and rage bait, be a 👦🏾

Me at the gym using the sauna instead of just standing outside for 10 minutes

On this day in 1964, Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were murdered as they participated in a campaign to register black voters in Mississippi

🚫👑

Be the weird that you want to see in the world Oil on a lil 8”x10” canvas #art #oilpainting #portraitpainting #barbie

“I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness.I hear the approaching thunder,which will destroy us… yet,if I look to the heavens,I think that it will all come right.In the meantime,I must uphold my ideals,for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out” Anne Frank

Things you absolutely love to see. What a welcome timeline cleanse.

My favorite part of the exhibit at Art Central in Phoebus. Steph hanging right next to the street, where countless people stop to gaze upon her 💙 #painting #art #oilpainting #portraitpainting

“There is no certainty that my life will be any easier in the years ahead, or that my heart will be any calmer. But there is certainty that you are waiting for me and will welcome me home when I have persevered in my long journey to your house.” Henri Nouwen (completed his journey home in 1996)

“Grant us anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may wish for justice, freedom, and peace. Bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.” #selah

“Christianity is being concerned about your fellow man, not building a million dollar church while people starve around the corner. Christ was a revolutionary person, out where it was happening. That’s what God is all about, and that’s where I get my strength.” Fannie Lou Hamer

Me playing soccer in the yard after exactly 2.5 hard seltzers

On this day in 1838 - The Trail of Tears "When will the American church awaken? …let them begin by speaking truth as Jesus did and say the only words Indians want to hear: "We stole your land."Our First Nations people have heard the Gospel over and over, but rarely have they seen anyone live it."

It was all a blur but such a good time while it lasted. First exhibition in a loooong time. And I got to enjoy the opening night with plenty of good people. #art #painter #artexhibit #artgallery

coming soon 👀 don’t know that many of my followers are local, but consider this an invite to come hang! #art #painting #artexhibit #artgallery

The average American has three friends

When you’re a caregiver for two and your window to paint doesn’t open until 9 or 10pm if at all, plein air painting doesn’t happen often. But I cherish those rare windows I get to do it for the joy of it #art #oilpainting #pleinairpainting

“We must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of men we are…I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others…to be a man is to suffer for others.” Cesar Chavez