How to be an Artist

“If you work with your hands, you’re a laborer.

If you work with your hands and your mind, you’re a craftsman.

If you work with your hands and your mind and your heart, you’re an artist.”

—Saint Francis of Assisi

In Defense of Defense

With the Superbowl just around the corner, everyone is gearing up for their Superbowl parties and dusting off their footbal lingo ("Spread the D!", "Hit the gaps!", "Stay in your lane?", etc.). One of my favorites is "The best offense is a good defense," whatever that means. And what game would be complete without those overused letter "D" cutouts with the white picket fences?

One of my favorite stories about DE - FENSE is from the book of 1 Samuel, chapter 17. Little shepherd boy, David, is wanting to fight this great big ol' dude named Goliath in DEFENSE of his God and his nation. This guy has been talking bad about the two things David cherishes the most, and he has had enough. Even though everyone else is scared to death of the warrior champion Goliath, David will not stand by and allow this injustice to go on. It is time someone came to the DEFENSE of what is right and good and true.

He tells everyone that he wants to go fight the giant and they try to talk him out of it. When David will not be persuaded to drop the matter, they send him to the king, Saul. Saul tells David that he's too young to fight this battle proven Philistine. So, David tells a story.

 [1Sa 17:34-36 KJV] - [34] And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: [35] And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered [it] out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught [him] by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. [36] Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.


And you know what? David went out on the battle field, and with well-practiced execution, did exactly what he set out to do. He killed the giant and won a great battle in DEFENSE of the things he loved.
 
But what I wanted to point out is this, be careful what you defend and how you defend it. If you are going to defend someone or something else, you'd better be ready to defend yourself as well. David saved that little lamb from the lion, and awesome display of defense of a helpless creature. But what happened next? The beast arose against David next. David's defense of the lamb turned into David's defense of himself.
 
When you defend others from attack, oftentimes the attack turns toward YOU.
 
That's why you should be very careful. However, when your defense includes the Name of the Lord, without a doubt, there is no OFFENSE better than that DEFENSE!

Mistreated?

Okay, so it's been a little while since I've blogged. (Understatement alert!) But Liz told me that she's starting to send people to the blog, which is her way of shaming me into action. So, here we go again.

Quote for today = "For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God." 1 Peter 2:19

Well, that's not a very popular philosophy now-a-days, is it? So, many people are clamoring and fighting and whining over their "right" to not be offended or treated unfairly lately. How dare you make me feel uncomfortable?! But the Bible kind of squashes that way of thinking altogether, here. You mean, being mistreated can be a GOOD thing? How?

Here's how; "because he is conscious of God." You see, no matter how badly or unfairly people treat you, it should always make you mindful of how badly and unjustly we treated HIM... yet He loved us. As a matter of fact, He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten son to die for us. Was that FAIR? Was that JUST? No, but I sure am thankful.

So, it CAN be good to be treated badly IF you don't let it make you angry. Let it make you thankful instead.