“The teaching of the church about the world of spirits is constant and simple: there is such a world, it is important, it comprises good and evil beings, and it influences our world.” (Coulson, John. The Saints A Concise Biographical  Dictionary, Hawthorn Books, INC. 1958, page 31.)

Many people believe in angels even if they say they don’t believe in God. Angels for the most part are considered the good guys who help us out, watch over us, and keep our children safe when we’re not there. Many of us have seen angelic beings and a few have heard them speak. Think of Mary and the words spoken to her at the Annunciation.

The Greek word for angel means “messenger.” Angles are present in both Old and New Testament and are depicted not just as messengers but often as champions against evil.  In  Tobias the angel Raphael defends, guides, and gives company to Tobias.

Pictured above is one of my favorite icons from the Novgorod school; the so-called ‘Angel with the Golden Hair’ dates from the mid to late 12th century. The Novgorod school quite simply gets its name from the Russian city that it was located.

Icons are some of best Novgorodian art and I think this is because the Novgorodian iconographers didn’t just import the Byzantine style, but they fused it with their own traditional folk art. Making the Novgoronian icons distinct and lively.

“Angel with the Golden Hair” is a wonderful example of Novgoronian liveliness and despite the damaged panel this icon reflects it’s intended spiritual strength through the usage of a strong contrast of darks and lights, saturated bright colors, and an energetic usage of drawing. This icon’s liveliness reflects a heavenly energy.

By the late 13th the Novgorod school began a shift in style. Figures became more flat and the palette changed from the lively folk colors to the deeper colors of brown, green, and ochre. However during the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, the Novgorod school produced some of Russia’s greatest Medieval works of art.

But still my favorite of all the Novgorodian icons is this one. This angel for me expresses in a real way the beauty and grandeur of the Heavenly Host.

Below is my humble attempt to copy this icon.

As you can see my copy is not an exact replica, but hopefully I have in some small way captured the spirit of the original icon. The first notable change is color usage.  My icon has a distinct Ultramarine Blue as the background color. Trying to copy  the damaged part of the panel was beyond my artist capabilities so simplifying the background worked best for me.

I enjoyed using contrasting colors of deep blue and the yellow family. I felt like  the contrast of darks and lights work well in communicating heaven’s battle of good and evil.

The lesson I was mindful of while working on this icon was the ever presence of God. He is always with us. The angels of God are His messengers and He sends them to our aid. I hope you are encouraged by this icon and my prayer is you experience His eternal peace.

God revealed this icon to me nearly four years ago when my Dad had a massive stroke. Needless to say, I was very distraught over Daddy’s sickness and often found myself in a place of  God’s presence that I hadn’t been in before. It was a place of stillness, deeply withdrawn from the voices and cares of this world. Although I have been a Christian for a long time I had not known of such a place until that time and place in my life.

God walked me to this place and there I found complete rest, enlightenment of the sacred, and peace. Although it was through a painful experience that enabled me to visit this place for the first time, I know now, I can visit this place in God regardless of  life’s situations.    

The Vision of our Lord and the Terebinth Tree

This icon came to me through a vision. To help alleviate some of the stress of the experience of Daddy’s illness, my family began walking in a local state park. This park has beautiful walking trails. Our favorite trail was one that meandered through the woods and finished with a walk along a medium size creek. Every Saturday we would head off to the park as a family and enjoy a good hour of fresh air and companionship with each other. 

One particular Saturday however, no one wanted to go, but me. I needed these walks…. so I found myself driving to the park alone, angry, upset, and afraid because the rest of my family was not coming along.  Secretly, I was afraid to hike in the woods without them.

The first half of my hike was spent grumbling against them for not coming with me. I blamed them for my feelings of fear. But as I walked I began to look up at the tree canopies and suddenly I was in the fear of the Lord. My vision began to change from  my spacial surroundings to a portal opening. Somehow I was seeing,  not the space around me, but the space beyond me. A space of  all-encompassing blueish light and of a tree that was unlike any I had ever seen before. The Lord told me the tree that I was seeing was a Terebinth tree.

As soon as I got home I began looking in the Old Testament for this tree. Having taught the Old Testament for nearly eight years in India, I knew the Patriarchs would from time to time have encounters with Yahweh in places with trees.

Abraham had such encounters. In Genesis 12:6-8 Yahweh spoke to Abram while he was in the sacred place near the terebinth of More. In Gen. 21:32-34 Abraham planted a terebinth tree after a conflict between Abraham and those of Philistine territory was resolved.  There are many more references throughout the book of Genesis.

Terebinth trees are a part of the Sumac family and are related to the magnolia and pistachio. The terebinth tree can grow to be very large and live for over a thousand years. 

So what is so important about the terebinth tree? Scripture associates them with sacred places.  The oil from the tree is known to have been used in a healing balm. The Lord shows us a place of sacred meeting, healing and rest under the Tree of Life. The question is are we willing to rest under the blue flickering light as it passes through the canopy of the terebinth tree?

I gave this icon to my Dad, and since then we have witnessed him dedicate his life to the Lord and maintain, through all the ups and downs of such an illness, a constancy in the Lord. To God be the glory.

As I walked about marveling at their work I noticed this side room where the old ladies and babies were kept. This room was full of litter, dust and filth. While looking in the door the old lady bumped her head and died. A small child choked on a piece of trash and was terrible cut buy a sharp instrument.

All the while the yellow clad clergy kept going about their business unaffected by this suffering.

This morning in my devotions I had to backtrack. You know I got behind in my readings and this is what was next.

1 Peter 1:13-16

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: Be holy because I am holy.”

Many of our minds are not ready for action because we are so absorbed with ourselves. We look like we have it together (self-controlled), but our insides (closets) are full of filth. Some of us are not setting our hope fully on the grace of Christ because we think we already have it all figured out. Some of us are not obedient children because we are giving in to the pride of life.

Seeking a position in Christ’s church is not evil in and of itself, but when that desire for a position is greater than our desire for the Saviour, then our closet is filthy while our outside looks clean. Be careful, repent, and clean out your closet. Don’t leave it dirty. If you wait for the Lord to clean it there will be much shame.

To help finance our journey we had a yard sale this past weekend. To our surprize we made $250. We worked hard, but we know God blessed our efforts.

Please pray for us and stay tuned.

Sabi

In reality, most of us will never be famous, land the BIG paying job, or even meet the President. And that is OK!!!! Our self-worth is not in who we are, but in whose image we are made. This can be a source of great inner peace if we are willing to surrender.

In India i had a great privilege to teach at a small Bible college in northern India. During my 8 years there the college began to take on some female students. For me having other girls on campus was great. There was one particular girl named Ramzai. She was a great female. As a born leader the other girls looked up to her, but sometimes she would have times where she was quite overbearing. You know, bossy, and maybe a little short-tempered. We Americans know all about this. Most of us, including myself, are born bossy.

Well, one particular night the girls requested that i met with them in the girl’s dorm. It was not a pleasant meeting. They wanted Ramzai removed from the dorm. Evidently she had carried her bossiness to the extreme. What to do? i told the girls i would have to meet with the principal about the matter. It turned out that there was nothing we could do, but asked everyone to try to get along. Not something they wanted to hear.

A few days later, while in class (a class on the Pentateuch), we were discussing the 10 commandments. Then we jumped ahead to the Greatest Commandments in the Gospels. The first commandment, and i paraphrase here,  ’Jesus said the Greatest Commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second is like wise to love thy neighbor as thyself.’

Taking a brief pause i then realized our problem. Very slowly and carefully, since Hindi is not my first language, i spoke these very simple words “We can not love our neighbor until we learn to love ourselves.” Yes, i know we live in a very self-centered society, but could we be like Ramzai? Unable to love our neighbors because we abhor ourselves.

When i looked at Ramzai she had tears running down her cheeks, and that problem in the girl’s dorm was over.

Over the years i have often thought of Ramzai. i have lost contact with her since moving back to the states, but i’m constantly having to deal with people much like her. Bossy and overbearing. Sometimes i wonder what the deal is. Are these people having trouble accepting who they are, and in order to make themselves feel better they need to put others down?  After all, we all can’t be famous. And whoever’s not guilty of that let him throw the first stone. 

So, today, famous or not, let’s accept oursleves in Christ and press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling and forget about trying to be famous. Hey, i’ll be there with you, along with all the other unfamous people. It’s a great club to be in. Way less stressful.

Well, to that person who just by chance runs across this blog. God loves you and, even as much as it may hurt, God loves that bossy you know who too.

Thanks for reading,

sabi

Here is a new landscape for 2010. The sky is very busy and is almost feather-like. I had a few visitors in my studio the other day and one of them suggested the title Angelic Wings Over the Mountains.

This is a painting of trees during a winter snow. Many people view trees to be as distinct in character as people. If that is the case then these trees are meant to show a quality of endurance.

Many artist and art critics say impressionism is dead. Impressionism may be dead as far as modern styles are concerned, but impressionism is not dead as far as being able to transport  an individual to a place of imagination.

These two paintings were done after a year long study of Georgia O’Keefee’s landscapes and abstracts.