New Year / New Art

As the New Year opens, and we go about the business of taking down the tinsel and vacuuming up the needles (except for you fake tree people . . .ugh!), our humble abodes tend to look a bit . . .well, um humble. To bring some of that adornment magic back, I suggest looking for original art to spruce up yer walls.

I am going to seek out artists who are Christian, and add them often to my lil' blog in the hopes of given ya folks some alternatives to Art.com/Allposters.com (they are actually the same company).When you do find a nice piece of art, please go to your local custom picture frame shop, instead of a Michaels or an AC Moore. While these big box stores are always offering 50% off (because they mark everything up 75% first), they generally do an average job at best, and often cost much more than a small custom framer.
If you care about where your money goes, than also make sure you don't buy any frames made by Larson/Juhl, as they are owned by Berkshire/Hathaway, which is run by one of Planned Parenthood's number one contributors; Warren Buffet (pray for his conversion).

Anyhoo

My first artist find is fellow blogger Nelda Jansen, who's Nel's Everyday Painting site caught my eye while searching for images of my beloved Rock Creek Park. Besides the wonderful quality of the work, her small pieces (which sell quickly it seems) are priced very modestly ($20-85.oo,plus shipping . . . almost too low). Well check out her either/both of her sites, buy some art, and e-mail me for ideas on da framing.

God bless,
D'art.

Year End Confession

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As I prepare for my annual year end confession ,but with my new spiritual director (pray for us both), and meditating on the bad I have done compared to any good works, I am comforted by this proverb:

"My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD;

neither be weary of his correction:

For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth;

even as a father the son in whom he delighteth."

Proverbs 3:11-12

I hope all my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus remember that God's discipline is a blessing, not a curse, and only given to those He calls beloved son or beloved daughter.

Rock Prophets

Found this LP from 1979, as I rather sadly attempt to further clear out what was once my super awesome music collection.

Cover has what kinda looks like a Mad Max version of an iPod (O:

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A Slightly Late Christmas Card

Wallace and Gromit make Christmas cards (pardon the e-mercial)

Catholic = Universal

Felice Festa Navititas
Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ur!

Wanikiya tonpi wowiyuskin
Feliz Navidad
Buon Natale
Suksan Wan Christmas lae Sawadee Pee Mai
Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr!
Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva i s Novim Godom Rmsaid Juluphi Head uut aastat
Sretan Božic
Gute Vaynakhtn un a Gut Nay Yor
Boldog Karácsonyi Ünnepeket & Boldog Új Évet!
Kala Christougenna Kieftihismenos O Kenourios Chronos
Wesolych Swiat i Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Sal-e no mubarak
Glædelig Jul
Joyeux Noel et Bonne Anne!
I'D Miilad Said ous Sana Saida
Mele Kalikimaka
Sarbatori vesele
Nadolig Llawen
God Jul
Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo
Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Tchestita Koleda
'appy Christmas!

Foolish Heart

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"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God"
Psalm 14:1

I only realized the universal truth of this line earlier this week, in that David is not necessarily speaking of his (our) God, but that only a person missing adequate intellectual properties could possibly be an atheist.

Yes, yes, I once called myself by that name, but I truly was a lazy brain-dead fool at the time. I did not actively pursue arguments for or against the existence of God, but decided upon my religious choice (atheism is to me a religion), because I was both angry at God, and found it easier to base my life on the doctrine of whim rather than Christian dogma.

More and more I realize that with all the extremely well written and presented arguments for the God's existence (twas logic that lead me to the cross and eventually to Rome), the only hope an atheist has for remaining an atheist, is to actually stop thinking, to not allow any rational thoughts to attach themselves to there comfortable ignorance.

Of course I sadly also find this type of comfortable ignorance in my Protestant brothers and sisters, because one only needs study whether or not the Catholic church is indeed the true church Christ founded to find out that it is true. Granted, I have met many Catholics who couldn't defend their faith if their life depended on it (um, and it kinda does), so ignorance seems to be a universal tool of the great Tool (ie, the little red liar).

Dr. Peter Kreeft's website offers a series of essays presenting the various historical Arguments for God's Existence, and I challenge any supposed atheist to read or listen to them and than honestly still choose to believe in nothing.

Symbol of a Real Hope

I actually considered doing a design like this myself, and thought it prudent to check if anyone else had a similar idea. . .and they did ( Ecclesiastes 1:9 )
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The Advent of Humility

"Humility is so shy. If you begin talking about it, it leaves." Interesting CT article on Christ's humility, an often overlooked, or undermentioned, character trait of our Savior.

"Humility is crucial for Christians. We can only receive Christ through meekness and humility (Matt. 5:3, 5; 18:3-4). Jesus humbled himself and was exalted by God (Phil. 2:8-9); therefore joy and power through humility is the very dynamic of the Christian life (Luke 14:11; 18:14; 1 Pet. 5:5)."

We tend to forget that Christ was truly humble in all ways; from allowing himself (the Creator of the Universe) to be born naked and helpless in a smelly cave, through all His work on Earth(always praising the Father who sent Him), then death on a cross while my sins cried out "crucify". We Catholics are so blessed in that we witness that humility in the Eucharist, that Christ would make himself so small as to become "our daily bread".
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Christian Art is only recently an Oxymoron

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"My wife was sitting next to me and said, 'I think I saw God when I was listening to this music.'"

From an article in Christianity Today.

While I love Veggie Tales and Christian Rawk, me thinks we still need to rise above the idea that Thomas Kinkade and the Left Behind movies are the best we creative Christians can do.

Adding to this is an wonderful new audio Lecture on "Shocking Beauty" from Dr. Peter Kreeft over at his website (in one of his earlier lectures Dr. Kreeft is asked when he will have a website, and my favorite modern philospher replied "when hell freezes over"
. . . well it IS rather cold out (O: ).


art by Doug TenNapel

God STILL with us

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

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First Class

My new favorite phrase, coined by Catholic motivational speaker and writer Matthew Kelly, is "the Classroom of Silence". His website also has the quote
"You can learn more in an hour of silence, than a year from books".

Our Verizon Fios'd mega Ipod world affords us unending chances for entertainment, but isn't all of our gluttony of noise making a society of Fat-heads? At the end of the day, have we learned anything?, grown in anyway?

Of course a much scarier question is
"why are we afraid to be alone with ourselves?"

Anyhow, time to turn this electronic brain off, and turn on my own (O:

" silence is golden when i'm not , i'm not "
Anymore -Smalltown Poets
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The "Yes" that changed everything

In the sixth month,
the angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:26-38
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Which is Our typical response?

"May it be done to me according to your word.”

"yet not as I will, but as You will"

"Thy will be done"

"If I have time, . . . how does a week from Tuesday sound?"

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More Law's

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"If you look into your own heart in utter honesty,
you must admit there is one and only one reason that you are not,
even now, as saintly as primitive Christians :
You do not wholly want to be"

Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life - William Law

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Big is the New Small

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"Big is the New Small" - Grand Incredible

Let me learn by paradox
I’ve got to fall
If I wanna walk
That I hear a voice that doesn’t talk, that doesn’t talk
That didn’t start and never stops

A touch of folly that it may be
But it should come as no surprise
To find that fools are counted wise
And blind men have the sharpest eyes
The truth can wear a jokes disguise

Chorus
Cuz big is the new small
Death is a new birth
Back is forth and up is down
And the last are really first
You’re goin’ the wrong way
If you follow the right signs
Just know you know nothing at all
Cuz big is the new small

Where the light has been erased the shadow behind
Cuz you show the shape
It doesn’t reveal but it indicates
We learn about light from the darkened space
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love/hate

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"There are those who hate Christianity
and call their hatred
an all-embracing love for all religions."
G.K. Chesterton (1874 – 1936)
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New American Church of Mediocrity

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"Whilst you are divided betwixt God and the world, you have
neither the pleasures of Religion, nor the pleasures of the
world, but are always in the uneasiness of a divided state of
heart.
You have only so much Religion as serves to disquiet
you, to show you a handwriting on the wall, to interrupt your
pleasures, and to appear as a death's-head at all your feasts,
but not Religion enough to give you a taste and feeling of its
pleasures. You dare not wholly neglect Religion, but then you
take no more than is just sufficient to keep you from being a
terror to yourself, and you are as loath to be very good as
you are fearful to be very bad."
William Law (1686-1761)

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
Revelation 3:15-16
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