Consigned to the Seventh Circle
“In art, either as creators or as particpators, we are helped to remember some of the glorious things we have forgotten and some of the terrible things we are asked to endure, we who are children of God by adoption and grace.” Madeliene L’Engle, Walking on Water p. 11
“Obedience is an unpopular word nowadays, but the artist must be obedient to the work, whether it be a symphony, a painting, or a story for a small child. I believe that each work of art, whether it is a work of great genius or something very small comes to the artists and says, ‘Here I am. Enflesh me. Give birth to me.’ And the artists either says, ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord,’ and willingly becomes the bearer of the work or refuses…” Madeleine L’Engle, Walking On Water p. 10
Today is C.cada’s annual art show. C.cada is an artist’s community dedicated to helping artists from every genre discover, develop and deploy their talents in the church and the community.
C.cada is an artist’s collaborative dedicated to helping artists from every genre discover, develop and deploy the their talents in the church and the community.
Preparations have begun. The show starts in an hour.
Pre show judging is in full swing.
The gallery.
The cafe.
Our monthly artist’s gathering at Cornerstone Church in Winchendon MA was almost a week ago now. Because of our Network Pastor’s Council I am just finishing up this post today.
Our group is dubbed C.cada (Cornerstone Christian Artist’s Day Apart). We are a group of people dedicated to giving each other space to do our work and to helping each other figure out how to use our gifts for the good of the church and the community. All of the shawls above were made by the ladies below. They are the Prayer Shawlers. They are preparing to give out prayer shawls at our local Walk For Cancer next month.
These are some of our artists hard at work. They are getting ready for our next Show-N-Tell in July.
Norma and Patti are doing an on-line class in balloon bending as they prepare for a summer festival where we will be setting up .
Every month we do a different art form study. This month our study was in watercolor. We had seventeen folks exploring this art form with teacher Charlotte Dorais.
Next month we will be hosting an informational outreach booth at Winchendon’s Summer Solstice Festival. Come visit us on June 18th.
C.cada is getting ready for its next monthly meeting. This month
ARTIST CHARLOTTE DORAIS IS DOING AN INTRODUCTORY CLASS IN WATER COLOR PAINTING.
PLEASE CONTACT ME HERE ON WORDPRESS OR ON FACEBOOK IF WANT TO ATTEND THIS CLASS.
YOU WILL NEED:
CANVAS OR WATER COLOR PAPER
WATERCOLOR PAINTS
PAINTBRUSHES
Here is Ken’s weekly devotion from the website.
l recently drove by one of our local churches. Written on their outside message board was written something like this, “What if people treated their Bible like their cell phone?” Now I admit that am definitely old school when it comes to electronic and computer devices. In fact, I don’t even own a cell phone or a tablet. And while I have a TV, I only use it to watch or to record programs. According to the Washington Times, adults in the US spend 4 1/2 hours a day on their phones. CNN has found that the amount increases to 9 hours a day for US teenagers. And that’s not counting any use of it at school. That’s more than 2 1/2 days a week and more than 136 days of the year. What if they are fortunate enough, 10 For the days of our life, to contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. (Psalm 90:10) It will fly even faster if we spend that much time on our cell phones.
Think about it…we use our phones for calls, texts, GPS, listening or recording music, videos, games, time, TV, photography, watching or recording movies, access the internet, download apps, take a picture, download and read books, check medical records, do online banking or participate in thee various social media. And that’s just what I’ve heard from others. What if we used that time differently?
What if we spent that time with Jesus, His Father, and the Holy Spirit? I can only imagine. What if we spent that time reading the Word and then following up on what it says? While using a cell phone is not necessarily a bad thing, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. When we start spending large chunks of our lives staring a tiny screen, to the exclusion of social interaction, safe driving, and common politeness, we have gone over the bounds of wisdom. 10 Better is one day in your courts (presence) than a thousand elsewhere. (Psalm 84:10) Even better than that cell phone. Or anything else that takes your attention away from God and what He wants for your life.
We spent our days getting closer to Him instead of all the other things we think we need or want to do? We can only imagine what rewards God will have for us.
This week THE DAILY POST HAS CHALLENGED US TO SHOW ADMIRATION.
I think what inspires admiration in me is an aura of the heroic.
My daughter is an inspiration to me. She is a consummate overcomer. Tenacious and directed. She has fought and advocated for herself every step of her journey and soon she hopes to be Pastor Amanda Lillie.
I admire my son for his bravery in traversing cultures and continents to be a teacher overseas.
I admire my son-in-law James and my daughter Melanie for stepping into marriage and making their way into ministry in the Boston suburbs.
I admire my sister who is heading to her mission field in the Netherlands tomorrow to bring the message of the gospel to the world through theater ministry
I admire the artists and ministry team of C.cada and Special Touch for their willingness to lay so much aside for the work of God’s kingdom.
And I really admire the staff and workers of Cornerstone for their hard work in the Lord.
Mostly I admire the One who has put something of the heroic in all of us.
Ken has delivered another great devotional thought for our artists.
If you would like to attend our next C.cada meeting in May. Message me here or on my Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/joseph.lillie.3
Lillie-Put 