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The best fair trade Guatemalan Coffee

 

Bunny Fight--good thing there's a gate between us!

 

Liturgical Painting Project

Christ the King/Thanksgiving banner painted during the 11/19/2005 "Connections" worship service at Central Christian Church, Kettering, OH

This is my first attempt at "liturgical painting." I was asked to paint images during the "Connections" worship service. I decided to do it from the back, behind a screen made out of a bed sheet hung on a sturdy wooden frame, made by Lynn and Merle (two wonderful guys from my church). I sketched the images in a light colored crayon, making sure the wax was heavy in placed I didn't want dye to bleed through. Then I mixed up several colors of Rit dye (the stuff used to tie-dye) and pushed the dye into the fabric with foam brushes. The result was that the images appeared to the congregation at a slight delay as the dye seeped in from the back. Some of the lines even seemed to appear simultaneously.

I owe a debt to someone from Seminary for teaching me this technique, though I don't remember who it is at the moment. I saw them do it with the parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep during a chapel service. It has been a couple of years and I had to experiment a little to get it right.

The themes of this piece are Thanksgiving, Christ the King and seeing through the eyes of our heart (Ephesians 1). I started with the images in the lower right hand corner--the material things that we usually to give God thanks for at Thanksgiving--food, money, home and family. Then I painted the heart in the center, leaving a space that suggested an eye--and began to paint symbols of the immaterial blessings that we can only appreciate through the eyes of our heart--prayer, the teachings of the Lord, Communion with God, the cross, the Holy Spirit, community and the Church. I finshed by filling in the portrait of Christ the King around the heart--making it the sacred heart and adding the crown just as the minister started talking about it being Christ the King Sunday (Actually Saturday night!).

The view in this picture is from the back so it is reversed. I plan to finish it by turing it around, trimming and hemming it into a banner and using paint markers to fill in the stained glass effects and write the words "GIVE THANKS" in the top corner blank spaces. 

Fasting before Thanksgiving

We have one week left to go before Thanksgiving...
OXFAM International asked us to skip one meal today and donate the money we would have spent to feed the hungry--I'm glad to do it, I'm just happy they didn't ask me to forego my Thanksgiving meal! They sent me this thank you:

Dear Rebecca,
Thank you for joining the thousands who'll be Skipping a Meal for Oxfam on November 17th. Through this simple act you'll be showing how deeply you care about the 850 million people who are chronically hungry, for whom every day is a day of hunger. For more information visit the Oxfam America's website at www.oxfamamerica.org .

I used to fast regularly when I was in college--it was my spiritual time away from everything and a great source of discipline in my life. Now I fast in solidarity with those who have no other choice. If I am hungry I need only to get up and get food. My pantry and cupboards are filled with it... I pass dozens of stores, restaurants, and fast food joints on my way to and from work or school... I even have the luxury of shopping daily to get the freshest and healthiest food to prepare delicious meals for my husband and myself. Even my pets are well fed with a variety of fresh vegetables, hay and nutritious food.

I took a quiz today at http://www.myfootprint.org/ and found that it would take 5.7 planets for everyone on earth to live as I do. And although I have been taught the evils of overpopulation, I cannot be so greedy as to say that the problem is all those other people--the problem is me! I am living carelessly beyond my means, both financially (I don't need Financial Peace University to know that!) and environmentally. Most Americans are. But we are in denial and we expect things to only get better for us. In fact we have an insatiable desire for more and more. I know people who actually feel sorry for those who are content in their current lifestyle and who sacrifice materialism for the happiness of helping others. What's to feel sorry for?

One thing that we can all do this year is to curtail our extravagant Holiday spending. Giving Fair Trade gifts or even better donations to important causes in honor of your loved one is a great way to help provide for the freezing earthquake victims in Pakistan, the hungry mudslide survivors in Guatemala (the true "Surviors" unlike the ones in the TV show), or help rebuild homes for the poor citizens of the Gulf Coast. Check out http://www.thehungersite.com for some fabulous gifts and giving opportunities. You can also click the button on their site (amd all of their MercyCorps partners) and their sponsors donate food, medical care, mammograms, etc. Drinking fair trade coffee is another way you can help everyday. I drink Juan Anna Cafe--I promise you it is the best whole bean coffee you can get for the price (17 ounces for $7!). And the money goes directly to support the San Lucas Toliman community in Guatemala.

Today's myth in art: Rhiannon

Read more about the goddess Rhiannon