Christmas Coming Earlier Each Year

I had to do some errands at the mall, and was flabbergasted to hear Christmas music. Christmas music on Nov. 4! How could this be?? I walked in one store and the saleswoman was blasting a radio and it was not playing Christmas songs.

"I love Christmas music," she said, "But I am trying to drown it out. They are starting way too early. When you are in retail and have to listen to Christmas music for two full months, you get a little sick of it."

I love Christmas music too. Unlike the saleswoman, it is not the music that makes me sick; it is the manipulation. The attempt to force us into the Christmas spirit...the buying spirit...the going broke commercializing the birth of God spirit. Starbucks already has Christmas themed cups for their overpriced drinks (which are delicious, and yes, I know this because I bought one of their overpriced drinks...). Christmas trees are already being erected in the center court. Christmas decorations are already blinking in store fronts. But I was lulled by the Christmas music. The crowds have not yet descended and so the mall was quiet. I sat sipping my overpriced Starbucks drink listening to the Christmas music and felt...well, I hate to admit it, but tranquil.

Later in the afternoon, Asherel and I had our monthly volunteer work teaching art at the Nursing Home. This month  the residents had requested we teach them to draw a pig. Our regular gang of about ten residents were gathered. This time not a single one said they could not draw the pig, and in fact, most of them just got right to it. They didn't even wait for instruction -- the step by step guidance Asherel provides. They began drawing as if they knew what to do and were developing confidence that they could do it.They told me many stories about pigs from their past as they drew. 

One lady who is very careful with her drawings each class told me that her three grandchildren were visiting this week. She had 3 drawings now from the past 3 months of class, and is going to give one to each of the grandchildren. They never knew their Grandmom could draw. I can tell she is very proud of her newfound skill, and tickled that she can give each child a gift she made herself. 

Another lady called me over and whispered, "How much do I owe you for the lesson?"

"Not a thing!" I exclaimed, "It is a joy to teach you!"

"Well then sign me up for the next one!"

The next class will be in December and so we will do a Christmas drawing. It has to be simple, but I want to make it meaningful. Something that will impart the true meaning of Christmas. Fortunately, I have a headstart thinking about Christmas after the Mall trip that morning and the too early Christmas music.

"How about a manger, and baby Jesus?" I asked.

"Yes," they said, "That would be nice."

"Just keep it simple," said another.

I smiled. Yes, it is simple. No reindeer, no Christmas trees, no fancy decorations, and God forbid, no Santa. Just a baby in a manger, profoundly simple in the message of hope.

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The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; (Psalm 116:6, 8 ESV)

Guide lines

I love how my life mimics art.

The task for my art class this week was two point perspective. Meanwhile, in our home school, we were losing all perspective, crumbling slowly in the face of an overwhelming schedule and the rigors of highschool. I know some homeschools are perfect and never wonder if knowledge is really such a good thing, but we were in a crisis; wondering if it would be possible to graduate from 9th grade by whittling out some of the less important subjects...like all of them....and replacing them with candy.

I sent the art class several warnings throughout the week. Each warning was accompanied with a supply they must not forget. Rulers are crucial in two point perspective drawings, for example.
"BE ON TIME!!", I begged, "Or I guarantee you will be lost. Two point perspective is not easy."

It is easy once you understand it. A whole world of drawing opens up before you like magic when you understand two point perspective. However, it is initially very confusing. To gain the proper perspective, you sometimes start off with a tangled confusion of intersecting guide lines.
"Which guide line does the roof line here go?" asked one student.
"Which guide line does this bottom angle into the alley way go?"
"Which guide line do you follow for the line of lampposts?"
"How do I draw a guideline for a sign sticking out of the building?"
Etc.
And uniformly, when I showed the kids where they had placed a building edge on an incorrect guideline and they corrected it, they sat back with a big smile on their face. When you follow the correct guide lines, the result is perfect.
"I know something is wrong," said Hannah, "But I keep trying to redraw it and it is still wrong."
"Which of these guidelines do you think you need to follow?" I asked.
She peered at the drawing.
"Oh... this one?"
"Try it."
"Yes!!! Wow!"

As every student successfully mastered the two point perspective sketch, I pulled out a picture of towering skyscrapers. The photographer was standing at the base of them, and all the lines of the skyscapers were converging at varying angles. Initially, I had thought this must be about a hundred point perspective drawing. But then I realized something that made me think long and hard about my homeschool.

"How many point perspective is this picture?" I asked the class.
" A million?" said one student.
"Six?" said another.
"Where is the viewer standing?" I hinted.
"At the bottom looking up," said Adam.
"Remember what I taught you about the horizon line being wherever your eye level is? Where is the horizon line?"
"Straight up...." said Monica.
"And how many points on that horizon line do the edges of the buildings converge on?" I asked.
"One!" cried the students..
"Yes," I said, "There is only one vanishing point. This is one point perspective. All guidelines converge on one point straight up."

Later, I thought, that is the proper perspective for our homeschool. Our guidelines need to all converge on one point, looking straight up.
Asherel and I decided to take a break and go for a walk, and pray.
Because half the battle is one of perspective.
But just in case, I have a bag of candy at the ready.

Psalm 23:2-4

 ² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
 ³ he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
   for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
   through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
   they comfort me.

Filled with Hope

The first day of art class is always the best. The kids enter the room filled with all the enthusiasm a summer's rest provides. They sit down bright eyed and expectant, eagerly awaiting all the pearls of wisdom that will fall from my lips. We all review the rules that will keep the class peaceful and productive. They quietly and respectfully listen, and the promise of the universe lies at our fingers.

Then class starts....

Soon pastel dust is slowly filling the air. The kids are so happy to be drawing and seeing each other again that they forget rule #1- no talking while I am talking, or I will lose my voice. Halfway through the class, I lose my voice, and the pictures of sunsets and silhouetted figures are beginning to emerge. The nervous newbies, who weren't sure they could draw, are no longer nervous. The class ends in a rush, and the happy young artists disperse like milkweed pods bursting open. One artist mentions she is a little sick of drawing sunsets.
"That's why I had you draw the person in front of it," I told her, "That was just for you."
"I know," she smiled, giving me a thumbs up, "And I have to show you something." The other kids are gone. She opens a sketchbook.
"See, I have been practicing blocking in my drawings, just like you told me."
I had been telling this particular, immensely talented artist to block in her drawings in this manner for years. it was like battling my teenage daughter over the dangers of too much computer time. There is good, and there is best. All my heartfelt instruction seemed to fall uselessly on deaf ears.

I stare at the young lady that had respectfully, but consistently defied my advice about blocking in the shapes before heading to details.
"And what did you decide?" I ask.
"It's easier," she agrees, "I love it."


She leaves class. I lie down and heave a deep sigh. Next, I need to convince her an artist should never get sick of sunsets, I think. No one should. I only rest a moment before scurrying off to vacuum before the rainbow pastel dust is ground permanently into my carpet.

Psalm 32:
⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
   I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

Isaiah 59:21
“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the LORD.