The Mountains still Surround Jersusalem

In the Italian renaissance period The bottega system ruled the art production of Florence and the other surrounding societies. The interesting thing about this system of production was conformity and the passing on of traditions.

You see, the way a new artist was trained, was by the boy becoming an apprentice to a master who would provide for him and train him in return for his work in the bottega. The training would involve copying the master's drawings, then after that copying and drawing, on would draw from paintings and works of art in the churches or public art collections of the city of Florence or whatever town they happen to be in. Not until you became an advance student or a master would one even dream nude studies. The works of art in the renaissance many times were all very similar for this reason. Because all the artist were trained one after the other with the same basic techniques, the same patterns and works of art, and were generally required to complete the same subjects over and over due to the all encompassing Catholic church at this time.

So it is no wonder why art history can be so challenge for those without a keen eye for many of these images have very slight differences, but when you start placing them in a line you can see a gradual progression from this to that which happened slowly over many decades and through the contribution of hundreds of artists. And yet today we live in a modern society that thrives on creating that which was never created before, that which looks nothing like anything else, or is made for the mere fact of how cool or awesome it was to make it. Back then artist didn't have the luxury of being able to just create and sell. Instead they had to sell themselves with each commission they received in order to receive another. Artist were poor, they hardly received a paycheck for their work after paying for supplies, living quarters, food, and assistants. But art was continued to be produced, and still is, and will be for long to come.

This little dive into history can show us many things. It can show us that over time and contribution many together can grow and create something that becomes beautiful, but sometimes the road is not easy, or fair, or even right. also it should be known that the bottega system began to fall apart after a few centuries. It fell apart for many reasons, but one of the main reasons was individuality. Individuality also has many great qualities of not always following a trend, getting more perspectives, and not always having to rely on others. But individuality tends to help things to just get more muddled and people begin to drift apart.

But it should be remembered that in Israel's history their were many ups and downs. they went this way and that and traveled from one land to another, But always they were god's people. And always the mountains continued to surround Jerusalem. And always God surrounded them with a special relationship that the other nations had little understanding of.

Many times as an artist I feel disconnected from reality, many times I just don't understand why you can't do that or don't understand this or that. But that's the case with each of us. In each of us there are things that we understand or see from a certain perspective that few if any others do like a modern artist. But at the same time we live with others and communicate with them and we still have that communication and struggle and building up and tearing down of each other toward a common goal whether we realize it or not (just like the Workshops in the Renaissance). And their is a battle between the individual and the body that we continually fight with for control. But we must remember that the mountains still surround Jerusalem, whether were alone or in a great multitude. For God Loves Each of us, and in each of us their is room for the individual and the collective group, as long as God takes center stage and and we go to him in the mountains in stead of waiting in the valley and as long as we live and grow together and keep our hands free to help our neighbor up when he or she falls then together we can stand and rely and lift each other up.

Refresh

It's been a long time since High school. It feels just like yesterday I was traveling the halls among my friends and life was much different. The world was smaller, everything seemed so far away, and everything we seemed not to matter in the long run. But these days life is different. The world is larger, with so many possibilities and choices to be made, and every choice has a bearing on where you decide to end up. Choices is the truth of life. You can choose anything, but its with what you can live with, what you want, or what can happen. Life is now quickly changing from the comfortable surreal world of the comfortable home we've grown in, to that of a large expanse with roads leading everywhere and a plethora of questions.

"I'm no longer in Kansas"
In two years schools over, the real world begins, and it will more than likely completely disconnect me from most if not all of my high school connections. In two years The surreal world ends and another one begins to be created. We are creatures of habit, we love routine, and more than likely many of you I'll never see again. I challenge all of you to not always stay in routine your entire life, for what is a life with no adventure or without following your dreams. To all of you if I see you again please take the opportunity to say hi, don't forget to introduce yourself. I will miss many of you in the years to come, and I hope many of you I can stay in contact with. But this is a post about where I am in life. I'm on the verge of transformation. I'm on the verge of the real world. I'm on the verge of leaving the surreal. Life moves fast I realize that now, but I've been lucky enough to enjoy it. I've been lucky enough to be able to slow down and enjoy it with friends and I am thankful for the friends I have made. But I'm looking to the future and I know things will change and I know new memories and friends will be made and I can't wait to embrace the future, but I want to take it slowly one step at a time to enjoy all I can.

Connections

The mind is a marvelous thing. It allows the person, if allowed, to imagine, create and connect things from the past and present. One idea from years ago can come running back and be lifted into a new idea in a matter of seconds, only to be lost in half the time.

I have spoken of reaching for goals, and letting the mind wonder, and thinking outside the box. This blog is merely and outlet of thoughts with connections I can scarcely describe or begin to understand. It is an outlet and free flow of consciousness the begins with an unknown ending that causes me to wonder where it may go and end.

With time I think I'm learning much to the secrets of life. What per say can these secrets be? well I feel they are not truly secrets, but really the overlooked and the opposite of what we might think. It seems the common expression today is I don't understand, I don't know, or what if? What if we dug deeper, by digging less. In our information-ally enriched society we long to dig, to read between the lines, or find the hidden understanding. I feel however we miss the point many times or skip past to the ending.

We don't need many words, like solomon a simple saying can be more insightful and challenging than a dictionary or terms. We have learned to react. We have learned to do as much by doing as little as possible. We have learned not to take some things at face value before we peal back the layers.

Many people have asked me what I want to do in the next few years, what job I want to get, or what my goals are. And without a doubt I can say I will go, where I end up; because I am, who I am. I have many possibilities, options, and goals I want to accomplish, but only one truly matters. And that is becoming who I truly am. My actions, my goals, and possibilities will be formed around who I am and value. But you only become who you are by letting yourself believe in your true values and desires.

The true secrets to life are right in front of our faces and we scarcely recognize the existence of such a simple answer or are willing to accept what it entails.

We are what we are; we will be who we want to be; and we will chase what we truly want to chase, if we let ourselves.

For me, life is the rest, the pause, and the enjoyment of the moment not the activities and the day to day chores.

What is it to you?

Living MY Life

Life is distracting. Life for many is all about what is going on around them; who is wearing what, what the next scandal is, or what is the best way to wear my hair. Life lived in such a way leads to never becoming one's self. Without living your life you never have a life, and without having a life how does one expect to feel satisfied?

These past few months I have been caught up in the game of Life. I've lived focusing on school, or the next event, or that one girl that keeps sitting beside me. It has been an exciting adventure and I have learned and accomplished much, but at what cost? I seem to have put many things on hold and have bypassed many things.

I have learned a lot this past year one of which is to look back on the past and learn, and not give in to the same things that you had before. One great example is the bible. It is a text of repeated blunders. From the beginning it is a story or overcoming and learning. As the story progresses it continues to reflect upon itself. It even points out continued faults of God's people repeated generation after generation for thousands of years.

Just like god's people thousands of years ago we continue to fall into these same mistakes just as we ourselves fall into the same things over and over. Whether they are temptations or sins, or just putting things off until another time. We are human, we make mistakes; but our goal is to learn, to adapt, and to put into practice what we have learned.

I have learned a lot this past year, but the most important thing is to live my life; to chase YOUR goals; and to learn from your mistakes. Without taking a chance on yourself and giving yourself a shot, you will never be completely satisfied. You will always wonder and wish, but you will only be able to act for so long; so stop, think, and reach for your goals.

Can You Live Without…?

10On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 13Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Luke 13:10-13 NIV

Have you ever play a sport and the coach tells you or everyone practices with his or her weak hand? Does he tell you that to make fun of you or just for kicks? No everyone knows that to be good you have to be able to use both your left and right, so you can use both on the court or field.

Have any of you been forced to maybe not use a limb (arm, leg, etc…) maybe broken it or something along those lines? Was it your strong or weak hand?

Well recently I fractured the radius on my dominant arm, which cause me to change many routines and do things in different ways. It cause a lot of problems at first, and still does from time to time, but you learn to overcome and do things differently without using your arm. Now I didn’t have to have a sling or anything and I could still use it to maybe write and draw with after a few days, but it has started to help me truly understand this verse and another that I’ll get to in a second.

Jesus has the power to Heal, to bring back your life, as you know it. Now I know my arm will heal soon, but it still makes it tough in the mean time. Jesus could just say a word and it would be healed… We need to rely on him for healing, but we also need to be patient an dlet him work in his own time. And in the mean time maybe I’ll learn something or see something in a different way.

But it has also made me think about other things…

7"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! 8If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

Matthew 18:7-9 NIV

Self-sacrifice is something Jesus also called us to. We have to be willing to tear away anything that will hinder us from his way weather it’s our dominate hand or leg, our tongue, family, TV, or even friends…

To me, my dominant hand is my whole livelihood for the rest of my life. Being an art major loosing my right arm could have serious consequences, but it may also have a better outcome if something were to happen to it. I may be able to spend my time doing something more important or do something better with my left hand who knows. We have to be willing to give up anything, and leave the decisions to him and make the best of every situation.

As Christians we have to keep our minds open and our heart focused and with him we accomplish anything and everything and without we will do nothing but hinder those trying.

Be a child, one of God. Focus not on the past, the future, but the present, and hold nothing back.

2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Matthew 18: 2-6 NIV

Learn your alphabet

I talked last time about living to the best of your ability, but I’ve been reflecting about life and where I’m being lead and I’ve come to a conclusion. We should Live and then learn.

Have you ever watched a kid try something new? Or maybe you can remember when you first learned to write?

Someone showed you what to do, you may not of completely understood what you were doing, you just followed the example. You practiced the shapes and sizes of letters and spacing, until you felt comfortable with it and could write any time. Then you learned to fine-tune your writing. Maybe you learned new fonts of more about how to write, and how to use words. You learned in school how to “Properly” express yourself.

But here’s the problem, we’ve grown up in a society that incorporates this mind–set, but teaches more so the characteristics of knowledge over doing. In history or writing class you research and learn before you write. In school we study and study before we do anything with what we want to be.

Our society focuses on knowledge and not living.

Look at a major candidate in money given to students in college. It’s not based on how outstanding you live your day, or treat others; it’s based on your act score, or how much you “Know”.

We as humans learn more not from sitting and listening or taking it in, but from hands on. Being an art major I learn more about painting from painting, than from reading about it. I would rather someone show me how to do something, than open a book and read about how to.

But that’s what Jesus did for us. He gave us this book, a guideline for our life, but he also sent us examples. I think we need to focus less on doctrinal discrepancies, little details, and facts. We need to turn our focus to living and showing, and not just telling, the world (our community, even our friends and family) Jesus.

We are to be Christ and he will be in us, we are not called to know everything in this book, in fact for centuries many Christians didn’t even own their own copy.

In fact not even until hundreds of years after that were verse and chapters put into the text to better reference our resources. These have advantages, but I think only once we have learned to live. For new Christians it breaks up the story making it easier to pull things out and dwell on them rather than the whole picture.

We need to learn to live and then learn to better understand who we are called to be.

Calling ourselves Christians doesn’t make us followers of Christ, and in fact calling ourselves Christians, but living a way that is contradicting to his word can give bad name and have the opposite affect on the world than were are called to.

Our actions are what the world sees!

so let's start back at the basics. Learn the basic outline, practice the shapes, fine-tune our living and then learn to express ourselves through Christ, just like we learn to write.