Children

Learning Creativity

adult learning, art, brain plasticity, Children, Creativity, Painting, photography, renewal

Is creativity innate or can we learn creativity? From my experience, children are creative up until about age eight, at which time peer pressure begins to suppress their imagination and willingness to experiment and exercise their own inner truths. About this age, children acquire an understanding of the “real world,” as opposed to the worlds of their imagination. This is when they want to draw “realistic images.” Their skies begin to meet the earth, rather than being a single ribbon of blue across the top of the page. They often attempt textures of clothing and realistic renderings of hair and facial details in their artwork.

This is part of their artistic growth, but not every child grows at the same pace. Because adults often praise these early achievements, those children whose brains haven’t matured often begin to give up on their creative endeavors. We can’t rush brain development. Therefore, we shouldn’t disparage children who don’t progress as quickly. Children all go through predictable stages, but the environment and their innate nature determines how quickly they progress through these levels, or if they quit at some point.

This nature and nurture process is part of what we call “neuroplasticity.” This is a fancy $2 word meaning the brain has the “ability to reorganize pathways, create new connections, and, in some cases, even create new neurons.” At birth, every neuron in the cerebral cortex has an estimated 2,500 synapses. By the age of three, this number has grown to a whopping 15,000 synapses per neuron! Yet the adult brain has only about half that number of synapses. This is because as we gain new experiences, synaptic pruning strengthens some connections in our brains, while others are eliminated. Those we don’t use, we lose.

This is why as we age, we should learn something new everyday. As Mary Oliver, the Pulitzer Prize winning poet said: “Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

We are building new brain synapses. Getting out to socialize is also important. While people used to believe the brain became fixed after a certain age, newer research has revealed our brains never stop changing in response to learning. In this sense we are always able to learn, even if we’re a little slower than younger people. As I age, I realize I don’t move as fast, but I’ve never quit waking up and looking forward to the challenge of the day.

The day might come when we have a stroke, or damage to the brain. At that time, a belief in the ability of our brain to rebuild itself will be important, for recovery of speech or the ability to walk or feed ourselves will be our goal. Art class helps us face small challenges in non-consequential situations and prepares us to have courage and confidence to meet with optimism the greater challenges of life. Art, like life, is a growth process. Because art is a creative experience, we always are working with God’s help, and not by our own power:

“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” —1 Corinthians 3:7

SCRIBBLE STAGE

The scribble stage is a critical part of early childhood because it helps children develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. This age is from the child’s ability to hold a crayon to around 4 years old. Characteristics of this initial stage are:

  1. Random scribbling
  2. Purposeful scribbling
  3. Naming scribbles

The best way to encourage these young artists is to ask, “Can you tell me more about this?” This allows children to share all the things they enjoy about their work. Make sure the supplies you use are easy to control, like thick tempera paint, unwrapped crayons, washable markers, and chalk. Children use their imagination, rather than looking at things to copy. Copying is frustrating and confusing for children.

Tadpole People of the Pre Schematic Stage

PRE-SCHEMATIC STAGE

This a stage beginning from 3 1/2 years old to 7 years old. Children begin to make patterns in their drawings and label it as a representation of the things they know in their world. They begin to draw human figures by merging the circle with lines. Initially, these figures look like “tadpoles” or “head feet” symbols. Often children’s first figures are unrealistic or lack body parts. Yet this is an important stage in which helps children develop their own sense of identity by allowing them to explore different self-images before they arrive at a satisfactory one. Art plays an important part in defining who we are at this stage. We can encourage our children by asking them to tell us about the stories behind their artworks and not requiring them to match the reality we see.

Schematic Stage, age 7-9

SCHEMATIC STAGE

Between age 7 to 9, children develop their own symbols for each object they’re trying to create. Their drawings follow a specific pattern: the sky is a strip across the top of the page, just as the ground is a strip across the bottom. Objects no longer float in the middle space, but are attached to the ground. The most important objects are larger than the less important ones. Perspective doesn’t follow any one rule. We can encourage children to look at their environment more closely, but without correcting their artwork. Any corrective actions we make to get our child to progress more quickly than they are capable will just set them back.

Pre Realism drawing by young girl

PRE-REALISM STAGE

The child’s inner critic awakens between age 8 to 12 years old. They still create images according to their own symbols , but begin to overlap them. They still use flat coloring, but add more details. They begin to care what others think about their work. We can encourage them best by showing them how to do things and not trying to push them into skills beyond their ability.

Young artist, pseudo realism: note everything is a pattern or symbolic representation of reality, but the overall image is flat, rather than three dimensional.

PSEUDO REALISM STAGE

Between 11 to 14 years old, children begin to add shadows and try realistic perspective in their artwork. They look more intentionally at their environment and at individuals, while they attempt to record these details in their art projects. They’re also more critical of their product. Therefore, they need more positive feedback. My rule in middle school art class was, “Say three positive statements about your work before you tell me three negative criticisms.” This helped my students know they had succeeded on some levels before they looked at the areas that needed improvement.

Learning and exploring new art methods are a wonderful way to keep these youths engaged. Not all these youths are ready for perspective, but they can learn to see simple stacked boxes and draw them.

 

Period of Decision (Ages 14-17)

DECISION MAKING STAGE

Beyond the age of 14 is a critical time, for young people will make the decision to continue with art or drop it altogether. Their inner critic combined with the judgement of outsiders (parents, teachers, other influencers) confirms their belief art is a pointless exercise. A few others, who have been rewarded with positive reinforcement, will decide to continue with their art experience by mastering skills, learning perspective, and developing their own personal style. We can encourage all students at this age by reminding them art is important in their everyday lives. When we expose students to art history, we expand not only their cultural awareness, but also show them the possibilities of artistic expression and creativity. We also have to offer opportunities for both visual and haptic (hands on) learners.

As a result, many adults come to art classes at the Pseudo Realism Stage. This isn’t an insult to them, as if saying they’re at “arrested development,” but if they haven’t had training beyond this age, this is a realistic assessment of their skill level. This is why we go through lessons on color mixing, perspective and drawing skills. Each person looks at the image from their own viewpoint and tries to translate their best impression of the three-dimensional world on to a two-dimensional canvas. This skill is the equivalent of translating German into Italian by an English speaker. It’s a learned skill, but one can practice it and develop it over time with repetitive exercises.

The brain actively uses its thinking processes to create a work of art. We always need to remember, this art work isn’t a representation of a thing, but of our experiences with the thing. Our choices of color, line, size, weight, and value all speak volumes of our emotions as we relate to the subject matter. When we look at an artwork that seems dead, but is technically proficient, we know the artist had no emotional connection to the subject matter. Likewise, we can see a more primitive painter who put their heart and soul into their artwork and judge this work to be “fine.” What we artists try to do is keep an open and tender heart and stay emotionally invested in our subject matter so we can allow our work to come alive.

As a teacher, I always hope to discern where each adult student is in their artistic development. The old saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” also applies to building our art skills. The more we work and get positive critiques on how to improve our work (this criticism involves what we did well also), the faster we usually progress. In fact, when we critique our own work, we see what we did well and what we could improve. Our next experience builds on that learning.

One thing I always underestimate is the length of time students take to do a project. Children fly through projects, but many adults have an inner critic who second guesses their decisions. I often say, “Just dab some colors on the tip of your brush and dab them on those trees for leaves. Pretend like you’re the god of your painting, and “let there be leaves!” They laugh at me, but I’m just trying to keep them from painting every single leaf individually. We see trees as a mass of leaves, not as individuals, especially if we look from a distance.

Sometimes I look over at someone working and suggest, “Maybe you might want to work in a different area. Your wet brush is just picking up the paint on your canvas now. Let that area dry and come back later.” Some of my students have been around long enough to have this lesson ingrained in them. If we hit this wall often enough, we learn how futile this behavior is. My old daddy always said, “Experience is the best teacher.” In truth, if we make a mistake often enough, we’ll learn that’s not the right fork in the road to take. Thankfully, we’re not working with electricity.

Our paintings from these two weeks were from photographs which we edited in our phones using the available digital tools. We weren’t trying to work towards a good photograph, but toward an image we could use as a photographic sketch for our painting. Gail S. took two images and blended them together. This is a challenge because each image had a different light and perspective. She solved it by placing the wall behind the tree, rather than using the actual photo image of the wall itself. We also used the color wheel to find a good grey color for the wall. Gail got some good details in the leaf mass. She is more used to creating her images from life.

 

Gail W. had a spring forest image with a footpath through it. She changed that footpath to a stream. She spent the second session putting shadows and highlights on the trees, as well getting the leaf masses to cover the timber stand. She even used a thin marker to get some dark shadows when she didn’t have a thin enough brush to make those details. Our two Gail’s are putting these lessons to effective use.

Black and white photo of retreat area

I used a photo I took on a recent retreat at Mount Eagle. A photo records everything before it. An artist can use the tools of the camera and the developing room to bring out the best qualities of the scene. My iPhone editing software did its best.

Then I made my painting from it. The great benefit of art is the maker’s decision to include only those parts of the image which stand out. We don’t have to draw every tree in the forest. We only have to paint those who call out to us to be remembered. This decision making action is part of making new neural pathways. Each new experience is a challenge and every challenge is a fresh opportunity for new growth.

The most important achievement we can make at any age is rewriting our brains. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural pathways throughout life and in response to experiences. While the brain usually does this itself in response to injury or disease, when humans focus their attention enough, they can slowly rewire these pathways themselves. We can also do this intentionally by engaging in learning a new language, writing in a journal, doing creative art projects, quilting, woodworking, dancing, or creating new recipes. Anything we do to try a new experience helps to rewire our brains.

After all, we want to be around for many days to say with the writer of Psalms 90:14—

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

Joy and peace,

Cornelia

 

 

Neuroplasticity: How Experience Changes the Brain

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-brain-plasticity-2794886

 

Victor Lowenfeld: Creative and Mental Growth, 3rd edition, copyright 1957, The Macmillan Company, New York.

 

 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN THE SCHOOLS

art, Children, elections, Faith, Forgiveness, holidays, Icons, incarnation, inspiration, Marcus Aurelius, Ministry, Painting, righteousness, Ten Commandments, vision

When does an image become a meme? Or an icon, an idol, or a shibboleth? I ask those questions, and then have go about defining them. We all know what an image is—a representation of something which actually exists. An icon is the Greek word for image, but to become a venerable image, it must bring the viewer into the spiritual realm, rather than leave the viewer only in this earthly world.

An idol is an inert representation of a god, but isn’t a god at all, for the god is invisible and spiritual. Praying to a golden calf or a carved wooden statue will get no response since it has no power or animation. The same can be said for shibboleth, which is a word or saying used by adherents of a party, sect, or belief and usually regarded by others as empty of real meaning. If the Ten Commandments are held up as mere words, idolized, but not kept in their hearts and lives, then they are as empty of power as golden calves. They also aren’t to be worshipped, but the God who gave them is.

Are the Ten Commandments now a meme? Memes are an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that are spread widely online especially through social media. Because this version of the Ten Commandments had its origin in the Charlton Heston movie, “The Ten Commandments,” which we see every single Easter and Passover season, it’s definitely in the public sphere. I’m of the opinion it’s fast becoming a meme—devoid of actual meaning and held up to ridicule.

DeLee: Icon of Christ, acrylic on woven canvas , 2022.

The version in the Louisiana law matches the wording on the Ten Commandments monolith that stands outside of the Texas State Capitol in Austin. It was given to the state in 1961 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a more than 125-year-old, Ohio-based service organization with thousands of members. In 2005, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled it did not violate the constitution and could stay.

The Eagles organization notes on its website that it distributed about 10,000 Ten Commandments plaques in 1954. The organization also partnered with the creators of “The Ten Commandments” to market the film, spreading public displays of the list around the country.

“It’s significant that the Louisiana law uses the same text created for ‘The Ten Commandments’ movie promotions by the Fraternal Order of Eagles and Paramount Pictures because it reminds us that this text isn’t one found in any Bible and isn’t one used by any religious faith,” Kruse said via email. “Instead, it’s a text that was crafted by secular political actors in the 1950s for their own ends.” Kevin M. Kruse is the author of “One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America” and a history professor at Princeton University.

Unknown Flemish Artist: God speaks to Moses while the people worship the golden calf, colored ink and gold leaf on parchment, 1372, National Library of the Netherlands.

The actual biblical Ten Commandments are spiritual and can bring us closer to understanding God’s relationship with God’s chosen people during their wilderness journey. We can learn about boundaries, justice and mercy. Also we learn God wants us to be imitators of God’s nature, something that’s missing in the movie version of the Ten Commandments. The movie commandments are a Reader’s Digest version of the Biblical commandments and miss the grace of God entirely.

For Benjamin Marsh, a North Carolina pastor watching the Louisiana law, his primary concern is people’s spiritual formation, so altering the Ten Commandments is worrisome to him. “The problem with changing the text of the Ten Commandments is you rob the spiritual implications of the actual biblical text. So you’re giving some vague likeness to the Ten Commandments that isn’t the real thing,” said Marsh. He leads First Alliance Church Winston-Salem, which is part of a conservative evangelical denomination.

So I offer these two versions below for you to read. I believe the placing of the Ten Commandments in the schools in these states has less to do with “religion” than with culture wars, which these politicians hope to use to their advantage. If we see these in our communities, we should ask for comparative religions to be taught, or none at all. I find the misuse of scripture abusive. This isn’t what we should be doing to vulnerable children. We should give them a God who loves, cares for, and provides for their needs. The Ten Commandments in the school houses is like having a cop in the classrooms.

FROM THE MOVIE, “The Ten Commandments:”

The Ten Commandments I AM the LORD thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.

FROM KJV: Exodus 20:2-17

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Joy, peace, and time to read your Bible,

Cornelia

Louisiana Ten Commandments law raises preferential treatment concerns | AP News

https://apnews.com/article/ten-commandments-louisiana-public-schools-religious-views-7c4af860da21df52c304346fab76c4ae

Fraternal Order of the Eagles

https://www.foe.com/About-The-Eagles/History

Anne Frank’s Last Birthday Cake

Anne Frank, art, Auschwitz, beauty, Children, Creativity, Faith, Family, Holocaust, hope, inspiration, Ministry, Painting, perspective, shadows, suffering, vision

Anne Frank’s Last Birthday Cake, acrylic on canvas, mixed media, 18” x 20,” 2024.

We never know when the tides of time will change. Most of us aren’t creatures of change, but prefer instead the well-worn and familiar paths. As a United Methodist pastor, I moved every two or three years during my ministry, so one thing I kept was my telephone company. I know some people like to switch providers almost as often as they switch their underwear, but that’s not me. Having to switch utility companies, banks, and hairdressers was more than enough agony for me. I signed up for this life, however, so I kept my moving boxes and made a spreadsheet for notifying all my address changes.

I talk about this because I only lived in three homes as a child. I never had to leave in the middle of the night to escape bad debts, the law, or a hateful Nazi regime. I have no way to imagine Anne Frank’s life, except when I was also 13 years old, I read her wonderful diary. Anne kept her diary, beginning at the same age, during the two years she spent in hiding while the Germans occupied her homeland during World War II. She had received a red, cream, and beige checkered cloth notebook diary for her 13th birthday on June 12, 1942. The underground Dutch radio station had encouraged people to keep diaries so future generations would know what the conditions were under the German occupation.

Because of the Nazi purity rules, Jews weren’t allowed to mix with non-Jewish persons. According to the Nazis, Jews were not Aryans or the Master Race. They thought Jews belonged to a separate race that was inferior to all other races. The Nazis believed that the presence of Jews in Germany threatened the German people. They believed they had to separate Jews from other Germans to protect and strengthen Germany. Their Nuremberg Laws were an important step towards achieving this goal. 

We hear this same sentiment today from the neo-Nazi movement groups who say, “Jews shall not replace us,” and “Immigrants are poisoning the blood of our nation.” As a result, only Anne’s Jewish friends could come to her birthday party. Her father set up a movie projector to show “Rin Tin Tin,” the famous Hollywood dog film star. The chairs were set up in rows like a movie theater. The family went all out for their Anne. Her mom had baked cookies for her classroom to share, since they couldn’t come to the party, but she baked a strawberry cream cake for this party attended by her Jewish friends. This was early June and the strawberries would be juicy, fresh, and in season.

Anne and Hanna playing before the Frank family fled into hiding.

Two weeks after her 13th birthday, Anne and the Frank family had disappeared from the neighborhood. They left no forwarding address. Her best friend of eight years, Hannah Pick-Goslar, didn’t see her again until they were both in the same concentration camp. Hannah survived. Anne did not, but the enduring story of her life in hiding continues through her diary.

When I was painting this, I used a large doily as the “cake.” I’d been saving it for a halo for a saint painting, but it works great for a cake top too. My viewpoint is from above, and I omitted the 95 candles. No need to burn the house down! The cream color was a bit pink, but if I were a young teen girl, I’d want it more pink than just white. I painted the background as a blue sky, because young people almost always have hope and optimism. The left side of the canvas has the storm clouds approaching, as well as the grey soot soiling the sky from the overworked crematoriums at the concentration camps where so many Jewish people lost their lives in the Holocaust.

If we can learn anything from one small girl who ate strawberries on an early summer day, I hope it will be to appreciate the beauty of this brief moment and to love one another deeply. Also, life is too short to hate anyone just because they are in someway different from you. Celebrate their differences as part of God’s creative generosity to this world. Also as Mary Oliver reminds us about the importance of keeping a journal:

“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

Joy and Peace,

Cornelia

 

Remembering Anne Frank’s Last Birthday Party | TIME
https://time.com/6284557/anne-frank-birthday-party-hannah-pick-goslar/

What Hannah Pick-Goslar’s Memoir Reveals About Anne Frank | TIME

https://time.com/6282024/anne-frank-friend-hannah-pick-goslar-memoir-

The Nuremberg Race Laws | Holocaust Encyclopedia
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nuremberg-race-laws

 

 

Eclipse T-Shirts

adult learning, art, Children, cosmology, Creativity, Faith, Good Friday, Great American Eclipse, Habits, Icons, Imagination, incarnation, inspiration, mystery, nature, Painting, Philosophy, Spirituality, vision

Friday in art class we painted our own unique designs on t-shirts for Monday’s Total Eclipse of the Sun. Anticipation of an event is characteristic of young children, while adults often feel over saturated with the early build up of attention given to an important event. By the time it gets here, we go, “Wow, what a letdown.” Children, who have fewer years of experience and anticipation comparison, can still marvel at the alternate reality of the total eclipse.

In the sixth century BCE, Anaximandros believed “the moon has a false light and is illuminated by the sun, and the sun isn’t smaller than the earth and it is pure fire.” The Greeks in 290 BCE knew the moon was unlike the sun. Anaximenes wrote it “didn’t shine with its own light, but with the reflected light of the sun,” as Eudimos wrote in his book History of Astronomy.  The Chinese also studied the skies and stars. They used bones heated in fires to divine messages from their deceased ancestors as early as the 12th century BCE.

Chinese oracle bone depicting lunar eclipse of 12/27-28/1192 BCS.

The Death of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels has the record of an eclipse occurring during the time of the crucifixion. John’s Gospel, which comes from a different source, doesn’t mention this time of darkness.

Egon Schiele, Crucifixion with Darkened Sun, Oil on Canvas, 1907.

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ~~ Mark 15:33

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ~~ Matthew 27:45

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ~~ Luke 23:44-45

When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. ~~ John 19:30

Yet the Gospel of John tells us more about the miracles of Christ and his dual nature (both human and divine), so that we might believe and have everlasting life through him. New Testament scholar Ernst Käsemann is correct when he says of the Fourth Gospel: “Judged by the modern concept of reality, our Gospel is more fantastic than any other writing of the New Testament.”

Bruce Metzger, noted New Testament scholar and lead translator of the NRSV said, “The more often you have copies (of biblical texts) that agree with each other, especially if they emerge from different geographical areas, the more you can cross-check them to figure out what the original document was like. The only way they’d agree would be where they went back genealogically in a family tree that represents the descent of the manuscripts.[104]

Tim’s Eclipse T-shirt: very simple due to his rehab from arm surgery. He uses his arm until it hurts and then he rests. We do what we can, not what we can’t.

We modern folks are used to looking at the world through the eyes of science and education. We look for repeatable patterns and consistent evidence. We have “grown up minds” with calendars, schedules, to do lists, and multiple people who make demands on our time. Often, we are thinking about our next meeting or chore before we even finish the one we’re currently working on at the moment.

We aren’t practicing Brother Lawrence’s admonition to “Practice the present moment.” Our constantly chiming cell phones don’t help us be present, even though we could set our notifications to silent. Indeed, we’re never present or still enough to know the peace of the God whose name means “I AM.”

Lauralei’s Eclipse T-shirt: experimenting with fabric paint

What is “reality?” How can we know the present moment and come closer to God? With the advent of photography people began to think super realism in painting was preferred to some degree of emotional expression. Today, with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence, we can make computer generated photos and paintings that go beyond our wildest dreams! This means our new generations may likely begin using tactile materials and hand-built techniques to create future art works. Instead of fantastic other worlds, they might find their inspiration in the environment or in social justice concerns.

Gail W’s Eclipse T-shirt: first stage in class. She came with a design in mind and brought her sewing chalk also.
Gail W’s Eclipse T-shirt: the finished product.
Some of our inspirations are too grand to be completed in a few hours. We need to have the desire to carry the effort forward to meet our goal.

As with the icon, the artwork is only a reflection of the image which is painted. The icon isn’t holy, but the person depicted is holy. As the writer of Hebrews 1:3-4 says:

“He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

I didn’t get a photo of Mike’s “Crawford Law Eclipse T-shirt.” Work called and he had cats to herd. He was generous as usual to bring fabric paints for the group to share. We used old newspapers inside our T-shirts to keep the paint from bleeding through to the backside. We had an opportunity to share stories and eat my birthday doughnuts which Tim blessed me with.

Cornelia’s Eclipse T-shirt: I collapsed all the moments of occlusion into three, so I could finish in one sitting.

If we take time to practice our art, we may realize our own works may be only a reflection of the glory of what we saw, but we we can continue to practice our skills in prayer, for God will bring us ever closer to perfection if we commit our work to God’s glory.

Leonardo da Vinci: Study of the technique for observing solar eclipse, Codex Trivulzianus, 1487–1490

Also, Marilyn, who was working with some other ladies of the church on the potato bar posters, had brought the warm-gooecrescent roll-cream cheese-vanilla-cinnamon-sugar dessert. If you ever have a chance to put this into your mouth, you will be transported into an alternate reality. This is the stuff from which dreams and visions arise! If you eat it, and you merely remark, “Good,” my thought is you’re dead to this world or you’ve lost your sense of taste. The child in me screamed for MORE!! The adult in me will see if I can reduce the calories with no depreciation in taste.

Paul Nash: Eclipse of the Sunflower, 1945

I hope we get a break from the clouds on the Great American Eclipse Day. The last one I traveled to in 2017 was very impressive and worth the journey. Watch it on television if you can’t be outside. Only look at the sun with certified eclipse glasses. Some experiences are such that we can only say “Awe!” And we may want to stop time forever, but time will march on, for we can’t move the sun either forward or backwards. No matter how important we are, we aren’t gods, and we aren’t even Time Lords. If we manage to grasp only a portion of the holiness and beauty of God’s creation in this one event, we will better experience the joy of the passing glory of our God:

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, that you have established, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” ~~ Psalm 8:3,4 (NRSV)

View of the Great American Eclipse 2017 at
Lake Barkley through a pinhole

Joy and peace,

Cornelia

 

Eclipses and the Ancient Greek Philosophers

By H. Rovithis-Livaniou and P. Rovithis

https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=2007ASPC..370..115R&db_key=AST&page_ind=0&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_VIEW&classic=YES

How Ancient Humans Studied—And Predicted—Solar Eclipses | Scientific American

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-ancient-humans-studied-and-predicted-solar-eclipses/

Historical Reliability of the Gospels, Encyclopedia MDPI

https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/29465

https://handwiki.org/wiki/Religion:Historical_reliability_of_the_Gospels

104. Strobel, Lee. “The Case for Christ”. 1998. Chapter three, when quoting biblical scholar Bruce Metzger

In Memoriam: Bruce M. Metzger (1914-2007) | Bible.org

https://bible.org/article/memoriam-bruce-m-metzger-1914-2007

Bruce Metzger was the master of several ancient and modern languages and ended up teaching at Princeton for 46 years after he received his PhD there. As one of the editors of the standard Greek New Testament used today and the senior editor of the NRSV, his scholarship has proved to be almost impeccable. His specialty was New Testament textual criticism, the field whose primary goal is to ascertain the wording of the original text. Many considered him the finest NT textual critic of the 20th century. His death in 2007 left giant footprints for the next generation to come. 

Paul Nash, British Military artist, died in 1946 of complications from asthma. He didn’t see the total eclipse, but knew of it and was very connected to nature.

Read about him in A landscape of mortality | Tate

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/paul-nash-1690/landscape-mortality

Map of the 1945 eclipse: SE1945Jul09T.gif 1,121×1,452 pixels

 

 

Introducing Watercolor Painting

adult learning, art, brain plasticity, Cesanne, Children, cognitive decline, color Wheel, Faith, Imagination, John Ruskin, Painting, perfection, quilting, renewal, United Methodist Church

Our art class has worked in acrylic paint for several years, but toward the end of last year, they expressed an interest in learning about watercolors. I said, “Sure, we’ll do that. It’ll build on the color theory you already know, but you’re going to have to learn to plan ahead and learn not to rush to overwork one area. Transparencies are the mark of watercolor, so leaving your painting underworked is better than overdoing it.”

Transparent Watercolor Model

I was met with silence. Then laughter. “What the heck! We’re up for it! Bring it on!”

I love this group. They’re always up for a challenge. I think they’ve bought into my philosophy we aren’t going to be perfect, but we’re always going to learn from everything we do. As a teacher, I reminded parents their children wanted to engage with the medium to learn how far they can mix the colors before the image becomes a dark gray smudge. Then they might even push it even further until it’s solidly black. If you ask a child about their story, they might say, “The family took shelter in the house, but the storm came and blew it all away.” The story would evolve as they pushed the medium to the maximum. They learned the limitations on that day and wouldn’t go as far the next day. The process, not the product, is important.

Young children aren’t ready to draw subject matter from life but prefer illustrating stories from their imagination. They use symbols, rather than attempt to construct two dimensional designs to represent three dimensional objects. Somewhere around age 11 to 14, children begin to try to construct a realistic world in their art. While their drawings at this stage display the use of value, perspective, and light, children are extremely critical of their own success. They consider their drawing only as good as the level of realism they achieve, and they’re easily frustrated. Most people quit making art works about this age, so even as adults, their “functional artistic age” is somewhere between 11 and 14.

When my mother was teaching ceramic classes at her church, she once complained to me how her students, all senior citizens, were like “spoiled children, who each needed to have their own fresh jar of glaze to paint from.”

I asked if she was putting all the new paint jars out in the workroom, or if she kept them hidden in the supply closet. You might have thought I’d just pulled the clouds back from the sun from the way her face lit up.

“Of course! I should have thought of that! I’ll just pour out the colors they need and tell them that’s how it’s going to be. They can share.”

Paul Cézanne: The Park of the Chateau Noir with Well, 1904, graphite and watercolour, Private Collection

The old masters didn’t teach their students light, dark, shading, values, perspective, color mixing, temperature, or any other aspect of the art trade until the apprentice reached around age 10 or so. The rule when I was growing up was a child had to be able to write in cursive. That rule won’t work today, but another hand-eye coordination achievement will take its place.

It takes a while for me to know a new student’s nature, so I can give them the appropriate nurture. Some of my students will go ahead and do exactly what they want to do anyway because they have to see for themselves. They have a high tolerance for “learning,” and “experimentation.” Other students need to be kept from these excesses, because they can’t stand “failures.” Some students need to creep up to the edges of failure in order to progress, since they are so fond of being in control. Gaining the confidence to let go and let the medium have its way will be a growth opportunity which watercolor offers. Other students I can leave well enough alone, and come over when I sense they’re at a struggle point. I can recognize this when they quit working or begin to sigh loudly as they push back from their work area.

Cutting on the Fold

I’ve actually had some grownups in art classes cry because they couldn’t master a technique on the first go around. I always expected at least one child in my kindergarten class to shed a few tears when they were first learning to cut on the fold, but didn’t “hold the fold” when it was time to cut. I can repeat this rhyme, ask them to check, and then cut, but at least one will hold the open edges, which leads to two half pieces. I always have to remind them I’ve been practicing this skill longer than they’ve been alive. One day they’ll get good at it also. Effort will pay off. The same encouragement goes for adults, though most of them are too proud to shed tears.

For our first class, belated as it was due to the recent weather and my brief hospitalization for a small blood clot at the turn of the year, we chatted about the difference between acrylic and watercolor painting. Acrylic painting is more forgiving, since we can paint over our less precise marks. We saw some Cezanne watercolor landscapes to see how a real master draws and paints.

Paul Cezanne: Le cruchon vert, watercolor, 1885/1887, Louvre, Paris.

Watercolor’s luminosity depends on the sheet on which it is painted, for its brilliance is a balance between transparent washes of pigment and the light bouncing off the bright paper back to the viewer’s eyes.  At first, Cézanne worked much as he did in his oil painting, applying the watercolor densely, filling in underlying pencil outlines, covering the paper completely, and highlighting with white gouache. Later he thinned his watercolor and laid down veils of color, incorporating blank paper for highlights. He often applied watercolor to dry, semi-absorbent paper, creating layers of crisply defined brushstrokes with ridges of pigment at their edges.

Our class, because they are used to the dense pigments of the acrylic paints, painted much like the early Cezanne gouache works. It takes a while to learn a new medium, especially one so radically different from their prior experiences. But just as it takes time to learn, it also takes time to unlearn! Ask my golf coach about changing my swing sometime. We’ll get the hang of it eventually.

After checking out the master, we then worked on mixing the secondary and tertiary colors from the primary colors from our Prang 8 Color palettes on our 140-pound watercolor paper (not sketchbook paper, which is thinner and will buckle under the slightest bit of water).

Cornelia’s psychedelic mushroom rainbow

I was still on painkillers for my shingles, so my painted circle never quite closed itself. Instead, it was more of a rainbow, an image of hope after all this rain and my health troubles. My secondary colors looked like rainbow mushrooms popping up from the rainbow. The wetness of some areas bled into some of the colors, giving me the tertiary colors. I had a bit more success working the wet in wet in the blue grey cloudy sky.

Gail W’s Flower

One of our new students, Gail W., imagined her color wheel as a flower in a field. Tim W. focused on the colors as patterns. I had the sense I was looking at a portion of a quilt in progress. While we had the color wheel as an image, we weren’t bound to recreate a wheel.

Tim W’s quilt patterns

Tim B. Always has a unique viewpoint, so his color wheel is moving through space. Mike used some pastel colors in addition to the Prang colors to experiment with the difference between them. He’s used to thick paint with his acrylics, so allowing more water to flood the surface and allow the light to bounce back through the paint will allow his painting to glow more brightly.

Tim B’s flying color wheel

Gail S. finished out her wheel in good form. She has good transparency of paint and mixing of colors of the three sets of colors on the wheel. Gail typically paints with thinner washes in acrylics, so her technique in that medium passes over easily to watercolors.

Gail S’s transparent color wheel

As a first start, we’re on the way. Next week we’ll try a small still life. I hope to be in less pain, so I’ll have more of my brain cells available, or at least they’ll be within hailing distance. I have some great Cezanne still life watercolors to share. A still life will test our drawing skills and our painting skills both. The Victorian art critic John Ruskin said, “No good work whatever can be perfect; and the demand for perfection is always a sign of a misunderstanding of the ends of art.”

Mike’s color wheel with Prang and opaque watercolors

We aren’t being graded, so when I say “test,” no one ever fails. We only find out what we’ve learned and what we need to improve upon. Trust me, “we’re all going on to perfection, by the grace of God.” After all, this is a United Methodist art class. If I may quote Ruskin again, “The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.” By this he means, art changes us. Art also opens new horizons, allows us to overcome challenges, imagine new solutions, eases our stress, finds companionship, learn resilience, appreciate culture, and develop new skills. At every age, art builds confidence, teaches us compassion for ourselves and others who try new things, and helps us keep an optimistic attitude. I personally believe art keeps our inner child alive and well. May God renew you daily in joy.

Joy and Peace,

Cornelia

 

Drawing Development in Children: The Stages from 0 to 17 Years https://www.littlebigartists.com/articles/drawing-development-in-children-the-stages-from-0-to-17-years/

John Ruskin—The Stones of Venice

A Guide to Cézanne’s Mark-Making and Materials | Magazine https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/589

Cezanne’s Watercolor Pigments.   https://cool.culturalheritage.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v14/bp14-09.html#:~:text=C%C3%A9zanne%27s%20watercolor%20technique%20allowed%20the,before%20application%20to%20the%20paper.

 

 

 

 

The Persistence of Effort

adult learning, Altars, art, Attitudes, beauty, brain plasticity, Children, cognitive decline, Creativity, exercise, Food, Habits, Health, Holy Spirit, inspiration, knitting, Love, Ministry, mystery, nature, Painting, Prayer, pumpkins, purpose, rabbits, renewal, Right Brain, sleep, Van Gogh, vision

These shoes are made for walking

I was reading an article in the New York Times the other day. In “How I Learned to Love Finishing Last,” the author wrote about her slow pace as a runner. As one who regularly finishes last in my age group in the annual Spa 5K Walk each November, I’m optimistic one day I might get old enough to be in a nonagenarian age group all on my own. Perhaps if I’m 90 and still doing a 5K, they’ll give me a ribbon just for participating! “The last will be first and the first will be last,” especially if there’s only one of us in the race!

“When we compare ourselves to others,” said Dr. Justin Ross, a clinical psychologist in Denver who specializes in athlete mental health and performance, “we set ourselves up to suffer. Instead, the real psychological benefits come from enjoying what your body can do.”

Portrait of Yayoi Kusama in costume in front of pumpkin painting, photo: Noriko Takasugi

Suffering physically isn’t what art class is about, although we may suffer indignities to our egos, but this shouldn’t hold us back from doing our art works. The case of the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is evidence even hallucinations of voices and images can’t keep an artist from creating. If our daily efforts don’t measure up to what we imagined in our mind, it’s merely because our inner eye sees better than our hands can execute our vision. Sometimes our eye forgets what it once learned, for we haven’t used our skill of looking in a while. A runner doesn’t leap off the couch and immediately run a marathon or even a 5K. The smart athlete takes the time to train progressively for the distance beforehand. Also, they get new shoes.

Kroger Run: Two ghost pumpkins and a small pie pumpkin

Sometimes the coach has slept over the summer also. Just as students in school need a time to relearn last year’s lessons, as a coach in art class I sometimes forget the lessons, which are second nature to me because they’ve been inculcated by multiple teachers since I was eight years old, aren’t as ingrained to my own students. I also forget I’m always observing everything around me: cloud patterns, changing colors on trees, sunlight dappling on tree branches, shadows on the ground, and reflections in windows. I think about these patterns rather than about what I need to do next or next week. My calendar will remind me of these things in due time. I’ll be wrapping this up soon so I can work on my monthly Rabbit blog.

Rabbit playing “Hide the Pumpkin.”

A National Institute on Aging study found five healthy lifestyle factors — physical activity, not smoking, not drinking heavily, following the Mediterranean-style diet, and engaging in mentally stimulating activities — can have important benefits. People who engaged in four or five of these behaviors had a 60% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s compared to those who only followed one or none. People who followed two or three of the activities had a 37% lower risk. This is your free wellness plan from Dr. Cornie, who has no medical degree, but did stay in a Holiday Inn once.

Debunking the Myth of the Split Brain Theory

Although we commonly think art is a “right brained” activity, in 2013 a group of researchers at the University of Utah discovered people actually use both sides of their brains equally. Back in the 1970’s when I was seeking employment after graduate school, the “Art is a right brain myth” ruled the creative work world. I once suggested I’d be a good candidate for a museum position because I understood both the artistic and the logical mind. I was not hired. Intuitive understanding of the brain a half century ahead of time doesn’t exactly open the doors to a fancy job.

As I recall, I got a checker’s job in a grocery store and ended up counting the teller trays and preparing the bank deposits for that store. The good news is creating works of art is a multi-process activity, one that depends on several brain regions and on redundancy of art-related functional representation rather than on a single cerebral hemisphere, region or pathway. This means even when we lose our ability to form words (typically a left hemisphere activity) our ability to create art still exists. We can still express our inner feelings and thoughts. This is good news for the aging and those who love them.

Yayoi Kusama – Pumpkin, 2014, installation view, Donum Estate, California, photo: Robert Berg

One one the great sadnesses in my ministry is being with young people who desperately want to have their old one’s memories recorded, but waited too late to ask them or were too busy with their own lives to sit and listen to these stories of the olden days. Once their old person has a stroke and loses the ability to form words, the opportunity has passed. Those stories will be locked in their minds due to aphasia, and no one or no amount of time will pull them out. We always tell young parents their babies need to be enjoyed while they’re still young, but we should also tell families to get the stories of their elders while they still can. “Strike while the iron is still hot” will take on a new meaning one day.

We needed bigger pumpkins

Gail and I were the only ones in class today. Lauralei showed up to gift us chocolate cake and keep us company. Tim and Mike were out of town. Gail and I both repainted old canvases. I showed some of the unusual ways pumpkins have been decorated by various artists, but none of them sparked any interest. We got down to work by covering our old canvas with a base of titanium white paint. Then I located all three of the pumpkins with circles and drew a baseline for the object on which they sat. I didn’t look over at Gail’s work for a while, but then I noticed she’d almost completely finished one pumpkin without roughing in the shapes of the others.

Gail had a big canvas today.

“Did you plan on finishing that one pumpkin before drawing the other two?” I asked.

Gail gave me a “needs more caffeine” stare.

“That’s what I thought. Maybe next time draw in the rough shapes so you get everything located in space relevant to each other.”

Pumpkin Spice Latte Time

We kept on painting until clean up time. I often say “I’ve slept since then.” It’s my all purpose excuse for forgetfulness or just plain airheadedness. Sometimes I have my mind on other things and I’m not focused on what’s in front of me. I forget about the wisdom of Brother Lawrence, who said “many do not advance in the Christian progress because they stick in penances and particular exercises while they neglect the love of God which is the end. This appeared plainly by their works and was the reason why we see so little solid virtue.” He also said, “there needed neither art nor science for going to God, but only a heart resolutely determined to apply itself to nothing but Him and to love Him only.”

Cornelia’s small painting of pumpkins

We know Brother Lawrence from the classic text, The Practice of the Presence of God. Although it dates from the late 17th century, his lessons on living life in joy in the present moment, all for the love of God are invaluable for us modern folks who tend to live for our 15 minutes of personal fame, social media clicks, or self interest. We aren’t used to the monastic life today, or to the discipline of that lifestyle. We live in a Burger King world, in which each individual gets his or her own way to every extent possible. Unfortunately, the Christian lifestyle is one of discipline, but not harsh punishment:

“Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” ~~ Hebrews 12:11

In art class we focus on the disciplines, just as the guild artists taught the apprentices back in the day. These disciplines are not only for safety, for some of our art tools are dangerous, but also some of our techniques are proven to yield better results than others. This is why carpenters measure twice and cut once. They also cut on the outside of the line, rather than the inside. They can shave down a piece easier than adding to it. Murphy’s Law recognizes this: “A wire cut to length will be too short.”

Zen Tangle drawing of pumpkins: exercise in texture

Art class has no mysteries, but we can forget the “secret gnostic knowledge passed down by word of mouth” from our previous classes. I often use the excuse “I’ve slept since then.” Another good excuse is “My mind has gone to Pluto.” I share these with you all, for they’ve always worked for me. Of course it helps to be a natural blonde. Then again, I’m very organized, but I’m also very active, so sometimes my calendar gets overwhelmed, and I pull out the “OOPS! Card.” Even in retirement I’m still creating and sharing my faith through art and writing. It’s my way of exercising those brain cells to keep them from dying off. We old folks can still learn new things, even if it takes longer. This is what we call the persistence of effort. Those who keep using their skills won’t be losing those skills.

The same goes for learning a new skill. It’s all a matter of repetition. We can’t get frustrated if we don’t get it on the first try. We won’t be a good role model for the young if we have that attitude. We need to lower our expectations. I used to think I couldn’t knit, but only crochet. After my mom, who was a stellar knitter passed on, a friend taught me to knit in an afternoon! Where this sudden bilateral coordination came from I have no idea, but it was so welcome. Perhaps I needed to be in the right frame of mind, or I wanted to be able to carry on my mom’s memory, but I was definitely receptive to her teaching.

Letter to Theo Van Gogh, September 18, 1888

It’s never too late to learn and we’re never too old to start learning. Art isn’t just good for the brain, but it’s good for the soul. Art is our attempt to represent truth, beauty, and nature in media that can be accessible to others. By doing this, we bear witness to the creation and the Creator. We only need give our best efforts, and let God’s Spirit guide our growth.

Joy, peace, and perseverance,

Cornelia

We have pumpkins galore on the autumn altar.

How I Learned to Love Finishing Last

 

How the Aging Brain Affects Thinking | National Institute on Aging

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/how-aging-brain-affects-thinking

The creative-right vs analytical-left brain myth: debunked! – Dr Sarah McKay https://drsarahmckay.com/left-brain-right-brain-myth/

Art and brain: insights from neuropsychology, biology and evolution – PMC

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815940/

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother of the Resurrection Lawrence (free ebook)

https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5657/pg5657.html

Rabbit! Rabbit!

arkansas, art, autumnal equinox, Children, Christmas, Civil War, Constitution, Declaration of Independence, elections, Fall Equinox, Family, holidays, Imagination, inspiration, Labor Day, perfection, photography, rabbits, St. Patrick’s Day, summer vacation, texas, US Constitution

Rabbits under a Harvest Moon

September marks the return to order and organization, since the summer for most of us meant a relaxation of rules and schedules. “Vacay mode” of late mornings, pajama days, and snack meals are now a fading figment of our fevered frenzies. I remember these days all too well. My little girl threw a conniption fit one morning as I hurriedly dressed her so we wouldn’t be late for her pre-k class and my teaching assignment at the same school. We dashed out of the house, I locked her in the car seat, and flew to my workplace. I delivered her to the precare room and made a beeline for my art shack.

Two Types of Teachers

Later on at lunch, her teacher informed me I’d brought my fussy child to school without panties. Oops! Luckily, all the children were required to have a spare change of clothes “just in case of emergency.” Saved by those who are more organized than most. My art classroom always had the paint organized by rainbow colors, the scissors numbered, and shelves labeled. The moral of this annecdote is, “Innanimate objects are easy to organize; people not so much.” Murphy’s Law also comes to mind: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” and Murphy’s First Corrollary: “It will cause the most damage possible.”

For Bunnies, maybe…

In the “No Pants Scandal,” of four decades ago, only my pride was injured. I’m not as organized or as perfect as I thought I was. This brings me to a little chat on appearances vs. our true selves. Our “false self” wants to appear organized, on top of things, spiritual, magnanimous, and virtuous. We’d like to be “perfect” in thought and deed. Yet the more we try to attain perfection or to act perfectly, the more likely dark, hateful, or mean thoughts arise from the depths of our hearts. We see this is our dualist world view, which divides our world into pure evil or pure good. The book of Proverbs reminds us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (16:18). It’s always better to admit, as I did, “I didn’t have a great morning and she wasn’t cooperative. I’m surprised we got here at all.”

Welcome to September 2023

Speaking about regular and organized, our earth is about to have another equinox on September 23, 2023, at 1:50 am CDT. The Fall Equinox happens yearly on or around September 22nd. The date of the fall equinox is variable because the 365 day Gregorian calendar doesn’t match up perfectly with the position of Earth in its orbit around the sun. When we add the leap year, the equinox date also changes. While the September equinox usually occurs on September 22 or 23, it can very rarely fall on September 21 or September 24. A September 21 equinox has not happened for several millennia. However, in the 21st century, it will happen twice—in 2092 and 2096. The last September 24 equinox occurred in 1931, the next one will take place in 2303. This rabbit won’t be around for any of these rare events, so don’t send me an invite.

Rabbits on the Playground

The September 29 full moon occurs at 4:57 AM CDT. It’s called the Harvest Moon in some years, or the Hunter’s Moon in other years. Technically, the Harvest Moon, which is the Anglo-Saxon name, is the Full Moon closest to the September equinox on September 22/23. The Harvest Moon is the only Full Moon name determined by the equinox rather than a month. Most years, it’s in September, but around every three years, it falls in October. We also know this September full moon as the Corn Moon from the Native American tribes harvesting their corn in this time. Other names for this month’s full moon are Celtic and Old English names: Wine Moon, Song Moon, and Barley Moon.

E. Irving Couse: Harvest Moon

Just as summer’s laissez-faire moments will give away to school and work routines, so the onset of autumn and the fall equinox herald another change. You might not yet recognize it over the insistent hum of your air conditioning system or feel it due to the heat waves rising from the black asphalt of your company’s parking lot, but autumn is just around the corner.

ERCOT Service Zones cover most of Texas

Don’t look at your utility bill just yet, and don’t pack your bags for Texas. I talked to my brother down there who has his AC set to “stun”—he said when the bill comes, “It will stun him a second time.” Texas doesn’t belong to the national energy grid, but to ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. It’s not connected to the two major electrical systems of the lower 48 states, but has its own grid to avoid federal regulation. When Thomas Edison started the first electric power plant in Manhattan in 1882, he set off a gold rush of independent power companies. During WWI, they began to unite and even more joined after WWII.

Don’t Mess With Texas

Texas takes seriously its “Don’t mess with Texas” rhetoric. Only on rare, catastrophic instances has it briefly joined either the American or Mexican utility grids. While Texas is a large state with rich energy resources, the USA is larger. When extreme weather events happen, energy costs rise. Rates can vary wildly as a result. The economic lesson is ERCOT is Dollar Store trying to outbid the Walmart of the national grids who can share energy with those in need.

Thomas Nast: The Lightening Speed of Honesty, 1877

Speaking of nations, on September 7, 1813, the United States got its nickname: Uncle Sam. Samuel Wilson from New York, a meat supplier to the US Army, stamped his barrels with US for United States. The soldiers began calling their rations “Uncle Sam’s,” a name the local newspaper noted, which began to spread and soon became the personification of the federal government. Thomas Nast (1840-1902) popularized the image of Uncle Sam. In Nast’s evolving works, Uncle Sam acquired the white beard and the stars-and-stripes suit we associate with the character today. The satirical cartoon of yesteryear’s dithering Congress is apropos of our modern chambers, which can’t seem to come a reasonable compromise to get the people’s business done by funding our country’s basic needs.

Columbia, The Gem of the Ocean

Over a century before Uncle Sam, Columbia was an idealized feminine figure that personified the new nation of America. She was created in 1697 when Chief Justice Samuel Sewall of the Massachusetts Bay Colony wrote a poem that suggested the American colonies be called Columbina, a feminized version of Christopher Columbus’ last name. Over 70 years later, the name evolved further when former slave, Phillis Wheatley, wrote an ode to George Washington invoking Columbia in 1775. Born around 1753, Phillis Wheatley was the first black poet in America to publish a book. She was listed among the enslaved persons at Mount Vernon. You can read her amazing poem here:

His Excellency General Washington by Phillis Wheatley— https://poets.org/poem/his-excellency-general-washington

Over time, the image of Columbia became a symbol for American ideals during wars, such as the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and World War I, as well as the subject of political cartoons and literary works. With her liberty cap and patriotic shield, Columbia stood as the spirit of the country. We even see her name, image, and likeness in modern industry in the Columbia Broadcasting System or CBS, as well as in the seat of our national government, the District of Columbia.

Well Done Labor Poster

Uncle Sam also has honored workers on Labor Day, which we celebrate on September 4th. Many rabbit families treat this three day weekend as the last hurrah of summer. Let’s remember those essential workers who serve and protect the rest of us while we barbecue in our backyards and national parks. The first Labor Day “parade” in 1882 was a strike. Workers marched en masse from New York City Hall to Union Square to protest terrible working conditions during the Industrial Revolution. Workers, including children as young as five years old, labored in unsafe factories, farms, mills and mines for 12 hours or more per day, seven days a week, often without breaks, fresh air or even clean water.

Credits: NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies

This map shows global temperature anomalies for July 2023 according to the GISTEMP analysis by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Temperature anomalies reflect how July 2023 compared to the average July temperature from 1951-1980.

Only 5 States Provide Heat Relief Laws for Workers. Arkansas doesn’t protect workers from dangerous heat inside or outside.

Today, 141 years later, during the hottest July since 1880, some states are passing laws to prevent workers from getting “special treatment due to the heat” such as extra breaks for cooling or water. Currently only five states have protections for workers in these extreme conditions. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 1992 and 2019, extreme heat killed more than 900 workers and sickened tens of thousands more. Those numbers, however, are likely an undercount due to the lack of reporting by negligent employers or by workers who are worried about retaliation or deportation. In addition to the physical implications, time off from a job due to illness can lead to missed wages or the loss of a job altogether.

Bain photograph: LC-USZ62-49516: Four women strikers from Ladies Tailors union on picket line during the “Uprising of the 20,000,” garment workers strike, New York City, 1910 February, glass negative photo, Library of Congress.

As a rabbit who once endured a few days in an unairconditioned art shack at the beginning of school and then fainted from heat exposure, I have a heart for all workers in extreme circumstances. I made sure to take care of my people, since my bosses didn’t care about me. It’s never right to treat others poorly just because you were wronged.

Reading The Constitution Online is also an Option

In late September, we celebrate Constitution Week (Sept. 17-23). The Declaration of Independence, written in 1776, was a list of grievances against the king of England and intended to justify separation from British rule. The Constitution was written and signed in 1787. It was a charter of government ratified by the states, and continues to be the supreme law of the land. All members of the armed services and Congress take a vow to defend the constitution, as do the President and Vice President of our country.

We rabbits will all need to brush up on our civics lessons in the days to come, for the upcoming presidential candidates may be affected by their lack of appreciation for the constitution and the consequences as a result. As I always told my students, “Attitudes drive Behavior and Behavior leads to Consequences. You can choose the good or the negative. It’s all up to you. Try for a good attitude every day.”

Tales of a Bunny Who Went to School

The 14th Amendment, section 3, passed after the Civil War, or the last great insurrection by the southern secessionist states, forbids holding office in the US government by former office holders who then participate in insurrection or rebellion. This constitutional provision is currently being tested in the courts. September is back to school for all us rabbits. The last time I remember a civics lesson was the seventh grade in Mrs. Tampke’s class, but “ex post facto” might have been “non sequitur,” as I was passing notes rather than paying attention.

Mr. Flopsy’s Rabid Rabbit Pirate won’t be Messed with.

We rabbits can only take so much seriousnes in our short lives until we need a break. Thank you September 19th: International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Everyone can ARRGG their way MATIES through a Tuesday, and if Monday is a pain, who says we rabbits can’t Pirate on that day too? After all, pirates rob and steal, lawless vagabonds that they are. Let’s just take over the good ship Monday and drink our strong Pirate Coffee with vigor and daring.

The Bluebird of Happiness

National Bluebird of Happiness Day is September 24th. I love these little blue glass figurines. Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz sings, “If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why, oh, why can’t I?” Bluebirds uplift the heart into joy when we see them in nature. The blue glass iconic sculptures, made in Arkansas by the Ward family, have sold over 9 million birds, large and small. They’re no longer made due to concerns about climate change because the glass production process requires large amounts of natural gas and electricity. I treasure the blue bird in my possession and greet it daily. You might find one in a secondhand store.

God Please Keep My Children Safe, by Grayson Perry, 2005

Love Note Day is September 26, so I suggest you write a sweet letter to your beloved. This might be a spouse, significant other, parent, mentor, or even your own self. Share some affirmations to those who mean something to you. Don’t stop at one note of love, but make a whole symphony of blessings. In our world today, folks don’t hear many positive messages. You can help balance the scales for your recipients.

If the Sears Catalog were still a thing, we bunnies would be wishing

September 30, the last day of this month marks 92 days left in 2023. Where has this year gone?! Don’t ask this rabbit. I’ve already bought a couple of little Christmas gifts for my bunny friends. I’m never this organized. This means I’ll likely lose or misplace these items in the 86 days before Christmas Day. Then again, this is also enough time for this rabbit to find these packages once again! Live with optimism! Expect the best and work for it.

 

May the Blue Bird of Happiness bring you

Joy and Peace,

 

Cornelia

 

 

 

The September Equinox

https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/september-equinox.html

 

Traditional Full Moon Names

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/full-moon-names.html

 

Why does Texas have its own power grid? | The Texas Tribune
https://www.texastribune.org/2011/02/08/texplainer-why-does-texas-have-its-own-power-grid/

 

How The United States Got its Nickname

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-nicknamed-uncle-sam

 

The lightning speed of honesty [Uncle Sam seated on snail “45th Congress” carrying Army and Navy payroll and money, with Resumption Act (of honesty) in his pocket] / Th Nast.
https://loc.getarchive.net/media/the-lightning-speed-of-honesty-uncle-sam-seated-on-snail-45th-congress-carrying

 

Database of Mount Vernon’s Enslaved Community · George Washington’s Mount Vernon
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/slavery-database/

 

Heat Stress Is Killing Workers. States Can Protect Them.

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/heat-stress-killing-workers-states-can-protect-them

 

Short Summary—The Character to Lead: Republicans’ Fork in the Road Between Trump and the Constitution’s Eligibility Requirements for President

https://www.justsecurity.org/87750/the-character-to-lead-republicans-fork-in-the-road-between-trump-and-the-constitutions-eligibility-requirements-for-president/

 

Deep Dive— The Sweep and Force of Section Three. 172 U. PA. L. REV. (forthcoming 2024). William Baude & Michael Stokes Paulsen. https://deliverypdf.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=791101027092090122082025003064104018105084007031052035109090080088105005086003018089043050055106031007050097096000078089031112025019027055033023110008092018116067055086024100075002015088106075126126082029114024094102088002003074126075030067104090009&EXT=pdf&INDEX=TRUE

U.S. Senate: The Senate’s First Act—the Oath Act and 1862 Ironclad Oath
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/landmark-legislation/oath-act.htm

Arkansas Bluebird of Happiness – Encyclopedia of Arkansas. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/arkansas-bluebird-of-happiness-3822/

 

 

 

Growth in Faith and Art is a Risky Business

adult learning, arkansas, art, brain plasticity, change, Children, Creativity, Faith, Holy Spirit, hope, Icons, Imagination, inspiration, john wesley, Ministry, New Year, Painting, Pantocrator, perfection, photography, purpose, risk, Spirituality, vision

Oscar Wilde famously said, “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” This is because the self-conscious aim of life is to find expression and art offers it certain beautiful forms, through which it may realize that energy. Yet most people who look at artworks judge them for the degree to which they represent “three dimensional reality,” in either two or three dimensions (painting, draw,or sculpture and assemblage).

Often I’ve been asked about my colorful landscapes, “Don’t you ever paint these in normal colors?”

My answer is usually, “How do we know the colors we see today are the original colors of Creation? After all, we now live in a fallen and broken world. Perhaps these bright colors were God’s original palette.” I’m not painting just what I see, but what was and what is yet to come. These are visions of a better world, where the leaves clap their hands for joy.

In art class, we not only struggle to master drawing shapes “as they are,” but also to challenge our minds to break free of our need to exactly reproduce the shapes before us. We always have the tension to make only a “copy of the image before us,” rather than to meet the image on a spiritual plane and portray an intimate portrait of its inner truth.

When we meet a stranger, we can hide behind our masks and keep our distance. Likewise, we can fail to become intimate with our painting’s subject matter. The resulting work is cold and dead, like a limp handshake. It’s a risky business to bare your heart to the canvas and paint. The brush will tell if your heart and soul is in it or not.

We get more comfortable with this risky business by practicing risk taking. It’s not like we’re facing tigers in a circus cage or jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. We can’t lose our salvation in Christ if we make a bad painting. We only have a new level from which to start afresh. All growth requires risk and failure. We discover what works, keep that, and eliminate the unuseful.

Willingness to learn is related to the “growth mind-set.” This is the belief your abilities aren’t fixed but can improve. This willingness is a belief not primarily about the self, but about the world. It’s a belief every class or learning experience offers something worthwhile, even if we don’t know in advance what that something is. Every teacher or parent worth their salt has to believe their students or children can learn and grow, or they need to give up their profession so another can grow. The first lesson even the most recalcitrant student needs to learn is to believe growth and progress is possible.

Christ on Tree of Life, San Clemente Basilica, 12th Century mosaic, Rome, Italy.

The Christian life has a parallel to the growth mindset. The whole of the Christian life is wrapped up in this faith: with God’s help, we can go on to perfection. This is a basic Methodist belief known as sanctification. We also call it going on to perfection in love of God and neighbor. Some of us think because we’re not able to change on our own, we don’t need to grow in our love. God has done all the work for us in Christ. The Holy Spirit was sent to be a truthful guide:

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth;
for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears,
and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13)

Christ in Majesty, Book-Cover Plaque, French, Limoges, enamel, ca. 1200 CE, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.

Paul speaks of this truth in Philippians 3:20-21, when he reminds the people of their present state as sojourners in this world, while their citizenship is elsewhere:

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that
we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will transform our humble bodies that they may be conformed
to his glorious body, by the power that also enables him
to make all things subject to himself.”

Mother About to Wash Her Sleepy Child Mary Cassatt, 1880

If life is a journey, the Christian life is even more of a pilgrimage. We all go through stages of faith if we seriously reflect and consider our beliefs when our life experiences intersect with our faith. Our earliest stage of faith begins with our parents or caregivers. Here we learn to trust or distrust, as we experience an embodied faith. The next stage is early childhood (age 3-7). Faith at this stage is experiential and develops through encounters with stories, images, the influence of others, a deeper intuitive sense of what is right and wrong, and innocent perceptions of how God causes the universe to function.

Michaelangelo: Creation of Adam, Sistine Chapel Ceiling

The next stage has been labeled “Mythic-Literal Faith” (Ages 7-12). Children at this stage have a belief in justice and fairness in religious matters, a sense of reciprocity in the workings of the universe (e.g. doing good will result in a good result, doing bad will cause a bad thing to happen) and an anthropomorphic image of God (e.g. a man with a long white beard who lives in the clouds). Religious metaphors are often taken literally, thus leading to misunderstandings. If God’s rewards or punishments don’t apply in proper retribution, in the believer’s mind, their faith in God’s system becomes fragile.

Théodore Géricault, Raft of the Medusa, 1818–19, oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris.

“The Conventional Faith” stage (12-adult) arises when individuals join a religious institution, belief system, or authority, and begin the growth of a personal religious or spiritual identity. Conflicts occur when one’s beliefs are challenged are often ignored because they represent too much of a threat to one’s faith-based identity.

Théodore Géricault’s “Raft of the Medusa,”painted in 1818–19, is nearly 17 by 23 feet large. It commands its space as any proper historic painting of the past ever did. Rather than present a moral lesson from the past, the artist instead chose to paint an event from his present time: the rescue of the abandoned sailors and slaves from a wrecked ship. The French nation had sent the new governor of the Senegal colony, his family, and some other government officials and others on the Medusa. The government officials went to secure French possession of the colony and to assure the continuation of the covert slave trade, even though France had officially abolished the practice. Another group aboard the Medusa was composed of reformers and abolitionists who hoped to eliminate the practice of slavery in Senegal by engaging the local Senegalese and the French colonists in the development of an agricultural cooperative that would make the colony self-sustaining.

On the way, the ship ran aground and broke up. The officials and their families were put in lifeboats, but the 150 others on board got a makeshift raft, which was tied to the lifeboats. When the raft impeded the lifeboats, the officials cut the raft loose and all the lives with it. Only 15 were rescued after days at sea, and only ten lived to tell their tales. It was a scandal of the times. Géricault read all the newspapers, interviewed survivors, and made studies from ancient sculptures to inform his design. When younger artists saw his inspirational work in the Paris Salon, they knew a sea change had happened. Conservative critics and writers were appalled and accused Géricault of creating a disgusting, repulsive mistake. They were not yet ready to leave the past behind.

William Faulkner once said, “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore” (The Mansion , 1959). When we meet that initial storm, our first thought is to bring our fragile bark into port. In life, we batten down the hatches and book it for a safe harbor. In art class, we want to fall back on what we’ve always done before, what we know we can do, and what we’ve been successful with in the past. This is our “safe harbor.”

“Individuative-Reflective Faith” (Mid-Twenties to Late Thirties). The individual takes personal responsibility for her beliefs or feelings, often by angst and struggle. Religious or spiritual beliefs can take on greater complexity and shades of nuance, and a greater sense of open-mindedness. These can also open up the individual to potential conflicts as the different beliefs or traditions collide.

To progress and grow in our art skills, or to move through the “dark night of the soul” when we question our formerly held spiritual truths, is a crucial time. Crucial is a word sharing the same root as crucifix. The crux of both of these situations results in a life and death situation. Not that the person quits breathing or their heart stops beating, but will their old life die and their faith be reborn anew? Also, will they trust a power greater than themselves to bring them back from the depths? Many of us aren’t willing to give up control to anyone, and certainly not to a God we can’t see. We’re two year olds in our spiritual lives too often, for “I can do it myself!” Is our answer to everything and everyone. (Test it out—how many of you read the directions after you start putting a project together?)

The Cross that Spoke to St. Francis, San Damiano Chapel, Italy, 1205 CE

“Conjunctive” Faith (Mid-Life Crisis). A person at this stage acknowledges paradoxes and the mysteries attendant on transcendent values. This causes the person to move beyond the conventional religious traditions or beliefs he may have inherited from previous stages of development. A resolution of the conflicts of this stage occurs when the person is able to hold a multi-dimensional perspective that acknowledges ”truth’ as something that cannot be articulated through any particular statement of faith. This is where the Holy Awe begins to fill all the nooks and crannies from which it was once forbidden.

Face of Christ (All People of the World), photo montage

“Universalizing” Faith (or ”Enlightenment”). (Later Adulthood). This stage is only rarely achieved by individuals. A person at this stage is not hemmed in by differences in religious or spiritual beliefs among people in the world, but regards all beings as worthy of compassion and deep understanding. Here, individuals ”walk the talk” of the great religious traditions (e.g. ”the kingdom of God is within you”).

“Jesus of the People” by Janet McKenzie.

In 1999 Janet McKenzie’s painting “Jesus of the People” was selected winner of the National Catholic Reporter’s competition for a new image of Jesus by judge Sister Wendy Beckett, host of the PBS show “Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting.” In the words of Sister Wendy, “This is a haunting image of a peasant Jesus—dark, thick-lipped, looking out on us with ineffable dignity, with sadness but with confidence. Over His white robe He draws the darkness of our lack of love, holding it to Himself, prepared to transform all sorrows if we will let Him.” The model was an African-American woman and the painting includes a yin-yang symbol of Eastern traditions and feather of Native American traditions. (Photo courtesy of Paul Smith)

Next week, we’ll still be working on order and chaos. We got started on this at our first meeting, and the concept is a challenge. I’ll write about our class work then. We’re always open to anyone joining us, for you come as you are and begin where you are. Our art group is a “one room schoolhouse” with all levels of students mixed together. We may all be doing the “same project,” but everyone does it at their own skill level. I give you special attention according to your needs.

Remember, “The only way you can be behind is if you never start.”

Joy and peace,

Cornelia

Life Imitates Life | Lapham’s Quarterly
https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/swindle-fraud/life-imitates-life

The Stages of Faith According to James W. Fowler | Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D.
https://www.institute4learning.com/2020/06/12/the-stages-of-faith-according-to-james-w-fowler/

Théodore Géricault, Raft of the Medusa – Smarthistory
https://smarthistory.org/theodore-gericault-raft-of-the-medusa/

Video and photo slideshow: The many faces of Jesus
https://religionnews.com/2014/01/28/video-photo-slideshow-many-faces-jesus/

Rabbit! Rabbit! Welcome to July

adult learning, art, Children, Declaration of Independence, Family, Foundational Documents, Habits, holidays, Independence Day, inspiration, instagram, Painting, purpose, rabbits, risk, sleep, summer vacation, Virginia Bill of Rights, vision

It s time to celebrate!

Are we the United States of America or the Un-Tied States of America? One of the apocryphal sayings misattributed to the great Benjamin Franklin is “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” Many are the words of wisdom from those who can’t speak up for themselves anymore, but especially numerous are the aphorisms of those we hold in high esteem, the founders of our nation.

As a young rabbit, my summers were often spent in the game of “School,” as the days lengthened beyond the end of actual school. My mother rabbit, a school teacher in real life, would find me underneath the shade tree in our backyard where I’d be instructing my younger neighbor rabbits sitting in neat rows. Since old school teachers never lose their calling to teach, the upcoming anniversary of the birth of our nation is an opportunity for all of us to remember our national struggle for independence and liberty was a cause both difficult and hard won.

I’ll take one of each flavor, thank you!

As we rabbits pull out our flags, bunting, firecrackers, and ice cream churns, we might want to take a moment to remember the danger and risk our ancestors took to become an independent nation, rather than colonies subservient to the English crown. For many great reasons we can thank our ancestors for their refusal to endure the insults of taxation without representation and the indignities of having all their judicial decisions subject to revision by a foreign party. Indeed, the colonists lived as second class citizens, a fact which grated upon their very souls. Many were their entreaties to the King of England for redress of these wrongs, but to no avail.

Redress is the righting of a wrong. Some wrongs are more wrong than others, to be sure. As a young rabbit in the first year of junior high school, I discovered all my classmates had later bedtimes than I did. In fact, I was still turning in at 7 pm along with my baby brother, who was a mere 8 years old. I made an extensive survey of my different class groups and discovered the average bedtime was 8 pm. I knew my old fashioned rabbit parents would never let me stay up until 10 pm at my tender age.

Every Bunny Needs a Good Night’s Sleep

My daddy was always saying, “Young rabbits need their sleep to grow up big, strong, healthy, smart, and good looking.” I never had a good argument against these reasons, so I’d go to bed, even if I might sneak a flashlight and read a book under the covers. I did get permission to stay up to the late hour of 8 pm, however. Perhaps rebellion is part of the American DNA.

Birthing the American Union wasn’t easy. The collection of individual colonies operated separately and had their own interests. Joining them together into one whole wasn’t an easy task, for each would have to put the common good ahead of their own individual needs and desires. Benjamin Franklin proposed The Albany Plan In July 21, 1754, for a union of the American provinces, which he proposed to a conference of provincial delegates at Albany, New York, to better battle the French and their Indian allies. We remember this era as the French and Indian Wars.

Benjamin Franklin. Plan of Proposed Union (Albany Plan), 1754. Manuscript. Hazard Papers in the Peter Force Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (2.00.02)

The Albany Plan called for proportional representation in a national legislature and a president general appointed by the King of Great Britain. It served as a model for Franklin’s revolutionary Plan of Confederation in 1775. His original idea germinated in people’s minds, along with other writings which Franklin “lay upon the table.” Not everyone was ready to approve these proposals, but his proposed Draft Articles of Confederation helped the committee when they finally began to focus their action in July, 1775 to write what became our constitution.

In November, 1755, Governor Morris of Pennsylvania pressed for a Militia Act in order to recruit persons for defense of the area from Indian and French attacks. The military units contemplated were purely voluntary and the officers, though commissioned by the governor, were to be elected from below, not appointed from above. The most important difference was that in 1747 the Association was a completely extra-legal body created by the volunteers themselves, while in 1755 the military units were, for the first time in Pennsylvania history, to be established by formal legislative act. And during the eleven months before news of its disallowance by the King reached the colony, the act did serve, in spite of its limitations, as a basis for raising reserve forces for provincial defense.

The Virginia delegates to the Philadelphia convention of 1774 went with this charge in hand:

“It cannot admit of a Doubt but that British Subjects in America are entitled to the same Rights and Privileges as their Fellow Subjects possess in Britain; and therefore, that the Power assumed by the British Parliament to bind America by their Statutes, in all Cases whatsoever, is unconstitutional, and the Source of these unhappy Differences.”

The crown had placed an embargo on the colonists and had forbidden them to import any manufactured goods, books, and while they might trade with other parts of the realm, those countries didn’t have to reciprocate. Economic sanctions were used for political purposes even in the 18th century.

Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a Resolution of Independence on June 7, 1776.

Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense, published in January 1776, was sold by the thousands. By the middle of May 1776, eight colonies had decided that they would support independence. When the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia Hall on June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia read his resolution beginning: “Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

After 21 years of planning, priming, and planting of the seeds for the fragile fruit of a New Democratic nation, it would finally come to life in the July 1776 Declaration of Independence and the 1789 Constitution of the United States of America. Yet not everyone was on board, not everyone wanted to leave the established relationship, even if it wasn’t the best situation.

Thomas Jefferson: Rough Draft of Declaration of Independence

Jefferson modeled the Declaration of Independence on the Virginia Bill of Rights, which became the basis for the Bill of Rights of the new Constitution of the United States of America. Notice the sections on 3: Governance by the Majority, 5: Separation of Governmental Powers, with Executive and Legislative members returned to private service, 12: Freedom of the Press, and 13: Armed State Militias.

“That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.”

Virginia Declaration of Rights, one of several pages

Section 13 of the Virginia Bill of Rights is one of the founding documents of our nation. Many today talk about “what the founders wanted.” One way we can know in part is to look at the historic records, although they are few and far between. We can find these in the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and at the Smithsonian Museum, among others. We don’t have to be mind readers or seek some medium to channel the spirits of their ancestral vision. We’re fortunate they and their descendants recognized their importance to history. Today we throw away records at a fast pace, not knowing what will be important for the future.

Rabbit Picnic in the Present Moment

While today nearly every young rabbit instagrams their lunch or their night out with a comment, which lasts in perpetuity on the internet, sometimes to a more mature rabbit’s shame and embarrassment, people nearly 250 years ago had to sit down, collect their thoughts, sharpen a quill pen, dip it frequently into the ink well, and write on precious sheets of paper.

Scholars think the Declaration of Independence was not signed by any of the delegates of the Continental Congress on July 4. The huge canvas painting by John Trumbull hanging in the grand Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol depicting the signing of the Declaration is a work of imagination. In his biography of John Adams, historian David McCullough wrote: “No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia.” We do have Jefferson’s draft copy as well as several printed copies that are “originals,” plus the clean, handwritten copy we treasure as a founding document.

John Trumbull, American, 1756–1843
The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
1786–1820, Oil on canvas,
Yale University Art Gallery,
New Haven, Connecticut

If we had been members of the Second Continental Congress in 1776, we would have been rebels and considered traitors by the King. He would have posted a reward for the capture of each of us, since we were the most prominent rebel leaders. Soon enough the largest British armada ever assembled would anchor just outside New York harbor. By affixing our names to the document,we pledged our life,our fortune, and our sacred honor to the cause of freedom. Perhaps this would causes us today to pause. Then again, we might dip the quill into the ink well and take our first breath as a free American. We’d sign our name with pride. We would be part of history now.

As we prepare our menus for our backyard barbecues and make our plans for block parties, let’s remember in most urban areas firecrackers and explosive devices are banned, except for professional light and sound experiences. Be safe in large crowds, especially at night and in entertainment districts. Be safe, be smart, keep hot food hot and cold food cold.

Jello Pudding Icebox Cake with Graham Cracker Layers and Fresh Fruit Flag Design

Joy, peace, and history,

Cornelia

Choose your preferred font and “sign the Declaration of Independence”
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/join-the-signers

Jefferson’s Rough Draft of Declaration of Independence. [Digital ID# us0002_2]//www.loc.gov/exhibits/creating-the-united-states/DeclarationofIndependence/RevolutionoftheMind/Assets/us0002_2_725.Jpeg

Is July 2 America’s true Independence Day? John Adams thought so. – The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/07/01/is-july-2-the-true-independence-day-john-adams-thought-so/

Silk Declaration of Independence Scarf, Full size, supports the US National Archive
https://www.nationalarchivesstore.org/products/declaration-of-independence-silk-scarf

Militia Act, [25 November 1755]
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-06-02-0116

Rabbit! Rabbit!

adult learning, at risk kids, brain plasticity, Children, city, Dreamscape, Faith, Family, flowers, Healing, holidays, Icons, Love, mandala, Mandylion, Ministry, ministry, nature, Prayer, purpose, rabbits, Reflection, renewal, risk, school shootings, shame, Spirituality, Stonehenge, summer solstice, texas, Uncategorized

Welcome to June! I’ve found my sunshades and my flip flops, so this rabbit is ready for a summer vacation. Old school teachers never die, they just take the summer off. And teachers, as well as students, will need a summer off, along with some intensive counseling, to get them ready to return in a healthy frame of mind next fall.

Summer Solstice Mandala

In my early years in ministry, I served in a certain county where many people were caught up in despair. I often complained to my district superintendent of my desire to pour mood elevators into the public water supply.

“You do know drugging the water supply isn’t exactly an acceptable activity for a Methodist minister?”

“Oh, yeah, but it sure would make my job easier.”

Rabbits Love One Another

Remember, June 3 is Love Conquerors All Day. I need to remind myself of this on occasion when I want to take the easy road. As Jesus reminds us in Matthew 7:13—

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide
and the road is easy that leads to destruction,
and there are many who take it.”

Taking the easy way out isn’t always the best choice, but it’s the one we rabbits most often choose. We rabbits don’t like to rock the boat, and we like to make all the other rabbits happy if at all possible. The only problem is if we please A, B gets upset. If we please B, A gets upset. We don’t even try to please C, since C is so cranky, even the good Lord Jesus couldn’t fry an egg to please them. We set our hearts and minds on pleasing God, as best we can, and hope to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.”

Make Mine Chocolate Ice Cream Day

Chocolate ice cream brings me joy any day of the year, but June 7 is a day dedicated to this frozen delight. Don’t worry about frying eggs, but keep it frozen. I like mine plain, but fresh strawberries or peaches are a nice addition, plus some chopped nuts. Always go for complex, unless you just can’t wait. Then grab a spoon and eat it straight from the pint. (Mark it with your name, since you ate from it.)

Often we cut the Gordian Knot and go for the shortcut to our complex problems. Sometimes this is a good solution, for the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. My daughter used to call my vacation navigation shortcuts “the long cuts,” since I’m directionally challenged. Most of the time, that straight line went through swamp land and alligators. I can hear her voice now, “NOOOOO!!!” I’m known for taking the scenic route, so I often see America’s less known sights, which are off the beaten path.

In the gospel of Luke (14:34), Jesus quotes a proverbial saying:

“Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?”

Another translation of the latter portion of this verse is “how can it be used for seasoning?”

When I think of loss, I think of a life snuffed out. Some people are burned out, so we can say they’ve lost their seasoning ability. There’s no vim or vigor in them. Other lives are cut short and aren’t able to fulfill their purpose to season the great soup of our community. Our past month was marked by 47 mass shooting incidents in May alone. A mass shooting incident is defined as one in which at least four people are injured or killed, not including the shooter. Suicides aren’t included.

Suicides are also a public health problem. They are the “deaths of despair” that leave ripples of grief and hopelessness in the survivors. They’re the ultimate shortcut solution to a problem, the placing of a period where life has placed a comma or a semicolon. My daughter once attempted suicide by downing half a bottle of aspirin. I noticed the open bottle and pills scattered across the floor. She said the “dog ate it.”

“That’s too bad, I’m going to miss that dog. She won’t be long for this world. We’ll need to make burial plans for her.”

“Well, actually, I’m the one who ate the aspirin.”

“Then we’re going to the hospital. You aren’t going to like getting your stomach pumped, but it’s better than being dead. You want to have a chance to grow up and have a good life. A dog we can replace. You—not so much.”

It was a rough time in her life, and mine too. But God was with us. And we had support from counselors, friends, family, and our church family. My work family and my clients supported me too. I must be the most extroverted rabbit in the patch, because I asked everyone for help. It turned out my problem was shared by everyone else. I discovered I wasn’t alone, but was the most ordinary of rabbits around.

This is a humbling experience, especially when you’re a first child and the only girl. I admit to being spoiled, but don’t let my brother rabbits hear me say this. I’ll deny it to my last breath: I’m like every other rabbit I know. I want to think I’m someone special, even when I’m just as fluffy as every other bunny out there on Gods green earth.

June 21—Summer Solstice

Unfortunately, half the suicides today are committed with a gun, not aspirins. When looking at overall gun deaths, roughly two-thirds are attributed to suicides—a proportion that is consistent across most states. Gun suicides are on the rise and data also indicates men, white Americans, older people, and individuals living in rural areas present higher rates of gun suicides. Another group presenting a unique risk for suicide is current and former members of the armed forces, especially those with PTSD.

Compared with the general population, current and former military members have significantly higher rates of gun ownership. According to a 2015 study, nearly 50% of U.S. veterans own a gun. In contrast, studies suggest that only about 22% of the general U.S. population owns firearms. Similarly, the age groups of 50 to 64 years old and 65 and older have the highest rates of gun ownership, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center study. This can further explain the high rates of suicide among older veterans.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in 2019, close to 4,332 veterans died by gun suicide in the United States, representing close to 18 percent of the total number of gun suicides reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during that year. Perhaps more alarming is the fact this figure shows a veteran is killed by gun suicide every two hours. In 2019, active duty military members committed suicide by gun 64% of the 498 total (318), almost one gun suicide per day.

Why isn’t anyone speaking about this? For all the lip service our politicians give to the flag and to the armed service members, they seem to forget them once they’re no longer useful to fight their wars or march in their parades. Perhaps because Congress won’t devote any money to study the effects of gun violence on the citizens of our Beautiful America, so we have to fund private studies here and there to piece together a patchwork of facts of this scourge on the peace of our people.

My young neighbor, only 8 years old, was in a panic as he knocked on my door the other day. His parents hadn’t come straight up the elevator, as they’d said they would. He was crying to beat the band and was sure something bad had happened to them. I invited him inside and left the door open so we could see them come past. He was so worked up, he couldn’t sit down. I suggested a call to his daddy, but they came walking past just at that moment.

June 19—Father’s Day

We don’t realize what terror these school shootings put our children through. There’s no safe place for them any more, no matter how “hardened” we make the buildings. Some person always breaks the shell at the most inopportune moment.

Some rabbits will have empty seats at their family reunion tables because someone decided to act impulsively. Father’s Day (June 19) won’t be a celebration without the son or daughter to give Dad the tie, the golf balls, or breakfast in bed.

I think back to my own childhood. We worried in the 1950’s more about the urban legends of Halloween candy poisoning, when we were more likely to get killed crossing Highway 1, a four lane highway running through our town. My mother rabbit would wait for me to ride the trolley home from school. She would wait until the near lane of traffic cleared before she walked out to the center median and time this so the far lane’s cars would finish passing so she could walk across the newly empty lanes to meet me on the other side. We held hands and crossed in the same manner on the way back to our home.

This was our routine from the start of school until sometime in the autumn. Mother was delayed one day, so I sat down to wait for her and opened my book to read. I was wearing a brown jacket against the early cool spell, and my dirty blonde hair blended in with the pile of dry leaves on the ground. Intent on my book, I failed to see her come outside. She overlooked me and went inside thinking I’d missed my ride.

A bit later, I decided if she wasn’t coming for me, I’d come to her. Gathering up my possessions, I stood on the curbside. I watched the comings and goings of the quickly moving traffic. Once I saw the break in the pattern, I walked out into the clearing, waited at the median, and crossed behind the trailing traffic of the second lane. When I walked inside, my mother had a conniption fit. After this, I began riding my bicycle to school, and my brother got to come with me.

Brain Functions

Not everyone is mature enough to cross a four lane busy highway by themselves when they’re in the fourth grade, which is the same age as the children who lost their lives at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. . Some people still need to be supervised at work even in their 20’s. The brain keeps maturing past age 21, as the frontal lobes, which are home to key components of the neural circuitry underlying “executive functions” (such as planning, working memory, and impulse control) are among the last areas of the brain to mature; they may not be fully developed until halfway through the third decade of life. Although neuroscience has been called upon to determine adulthood, there is little empirical evidence to support age 18, the current legal age of majority, as an accurate marker of adult capacities.

Since May 24, the date of this tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, the gunviolencearchive.org has recorded 16 mass shootings in six days, with 79 killed or wounded. Some of these are high school graduation parties where uninvited guests arrived and gunfire broke out, others are the result of young people wandering about in the late hours and getting into trouble with guns. During my time of ministry, youth, alcohol, and firearms were usually a recipe for trouble. Maybe parental rabbits’ brains are still developing too, if they aren’t able to put their rabbit foot down and tell the junior rabbits to leave their weapons at home. Visiting Jack Rabbit in jail for accidental death or intentional use of a firearm will throw a curve into your best laid plans for your progeny.

Rabbits in Cars Going for a Joyride

Instead, cities may have to reinstitute curfews after dark to curtail the opportunities for gun violence. Or they could raise the age to buy a weapon and require a longer waiting time and a more thorough background check. I wouldn’t be opposed to a training class and a test to see if the owner knows how to use the weapon safely. After all, we do this for the 2 ton weapon of mass destruction known as the family automobile. So what if the founding fathers never had autos; they also never had automatic pistols or large magazine weapons, modeled on the ones used in combat.

Did I mention June is National Safety Month? Its emphasis is workplace safety, but as a former teacher, this old rabbit reminds you, between 2009 and 2020, teachers’ workplaces are in schools, which is where 30% of mass shootings occurred in public places (schools, malls, or bars), while 61% of mass shootings occurred entirely in the home and another 9% occurred partially in a home and partially in a public location. The common factor in these is the gun and the presence of domestic violence. In at least 53 percent of mass shootings between 2009 and 2020, the perpetrator shot a current or former intimate partner or family member during the rampage.

Richard Small seen posing with his rifle before turning it over to police.
(Joshua Lott/The Washington Post)

I know y’all usually expect a bright and cheery note from me at the beginning of the month, but my heart is broken. Thoughts and prayers are nice, but they don’t stop the carnage. We need to make some changes. At least one man has turned in his assault weapon to his local police station, so it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. He couldn’t bear the thought of it being used to perpetrate a similar crime if he were to sell it. If we parents don’t say no to our children, if we keep voting for politicians who are doing nothing, then we get to keep the distinction of having the highest rate of violent gun deaths for any of the developed countries.

That’s not the American Exceptionalism I believe in. We can do better. These are crimes against the common good and against the innocent. The shooter shares the primary blame, but everyone who does nothing to change our society for the better also shares the blame and shame for the next group of victims. At the rate we’re going, we’re having about one mass shooting per day. Eventually this scourge will come to YourTown, USA, and your small town police force will be just as flabbergasted as poor Uvalde’s. How could this happen in our little corner of the world?

I cry along with Jeremiah ( 8:21-22):

For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,
I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of my poor people
not been restored?

Time Magazine Cover from 2019 with all the Mass Shooting Locations Named

Sometimes we go along with the attributes of cultural Christianity, rather than practicing the Christianity of Jesus Christ. Romans 12:2 reminds us

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern
what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Joy, peace, and balm for hurting souls,

Rev. Cornelia

Deadly Dreams: What Motivates School Shootings? – Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deadly-dreams/

You can view a report of any 2022 mass shooting incident by visiting the list on the Gun Violence Archive’s website:
https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting

Poisoned Halloween Candy | Snopes.com
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deadly-dreams/

Mass Shootings in America | Everytown Research & Policy | Everytown Research & Policy
https://everytownresearch.org/maps/mass-shootings-in-america/

Adolescent Maturity and the Brain: The Promise and Pitfalls of Neuroscience Research in Adolescent Health Policy – PMC
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892678/

Guns and Mass Shootings: Data Show Why US Is Outlier on Deaths From Firearms
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-us-gun-violence-world-comparison/

Texas romance with guns tested by Uvalde school shooting – The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/30/uvalde-shooting-guns/