The Beginning of the End?

Whenever something terrible happens in the world, some cataclysm or disaster, like the banking crisis or the earthquake in Japan, there is a concomitant outcry that more terrible and more disastrous things are going to happen and there is an atmosphere of fear and blame and self-righteousness.
Well, as a beginner on the Way of St. Francis and a creative, I would like to transform those ideas and attempt to bring a sense of hope and joy to a world that is becoming frightening for so many people.

Change is difficult, whether it is personal, organisational,  national or global.  Sometimes we feel we have instigated the change or sometimes it seems it is thrust upon us.  The world is going though a period of tremendous change right now from the physical through to the spiritual.  It will affect everyone and how we weather it depends on our attitude as an individual.

You could say our progress is like travelling through a series of interconnected spheres where the passage between each sphere is narrow.  Passing through this juncture is easy or difficult depending on what we try to take with us.  If we want to hang onto old ideas and attitudes and practices then it will be harsh.  If we can learn to let go of our attachment to things, ideas and attitudes that do not serve us, or are proved to have been faulty, then it will be easier and we will feel lighter and more hopeful.   Surrender is a basic principle of all the major faiths and for good reason.  It is fear that keeps us hanging onto the familiar, as we do not know what is ahead, so we hang onto what we know even if is is killing us and killing the planet.

Exchange fear for love.

The Book of Revelation is about transforming ourselves or even allowing ourselves to be transformed.

Writing icons for the past eight years has transformed me from without to within and vice versa. It has been a great journey and one that I am continuing on. Each time I write an icon I receive new insights and an incredible closeness to the saints, prophets and the Messiah and Mary. It is almost as if there is a very thin, gauzy veil between myself and those who dwell in paradise. How great is that? No wonder once I started writing icons I have always had one on the go. St. Paul also mentions this veil or curtain. That is how near heaven is to us but we fail to perceive it.
Why have I chosen to write icons based on the Book of Revelation? The only answer I can give to that is that I don’t know. Some years ago I reread the book and then started to draw segments of the book in a large sketchbook until I had completed over half the Book in graphic form. Each one came effortlessly and then I put it away and forgot about it. Some years later I began to get the urge to start writing the icons and began with some of the smaller ones – not one of my smartest ideas as the smaller ones are more difficult and take longer.
However, a year or so later I have icons of the messages to the seven churches and have now completed  The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
In addition, this past year I have added meditations to go with each of the images or icons and this has brought me some new insights and understanding. I would like to share some of this with you as I work through this vast project and also to share some of the techniques I use to create them. In this latter respect I would ask you to have patience and some good humour as I am no film maker and my attempts at video may seem a little clunky. My kitten, Gimli, will make a few appearances as he is as nosey as hell, especially when gilding is going on. That cat is the worst..