Mere Christianity Illustrations: Hope

"Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same."

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, "Hope"

Crazy Dog Lady

Our landlady lives right beneath us and thinks of all dogs as her children. So I was not in the least surprised to open the door and see this sick stray tucked away in the corner of the garage.

Mere Christianity Illustrations: Let's Pretend

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I made this one for you! Thank you for teaching us to pretend in the right ways! Can you recognize the characters?

"There are two kinds of pretending. There is a bad kind, where the pretence is there instead of the real thing; as when a man pretends he is going to help you instead of really helping you. But there is also a good kind, where the pretence leads up to the real thing. When you are not feeling particularly friendly but know you ought to be, the best thing you can do, very often, is to put on a friendly manner and behave as if you were a nicer person than you actually are. And in a few minutes, as we have all noticed, you will be really feeling friendlier than you were. Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already. That is why children’s games are so important. They are always pretending to be grownups—playing soldiers, playing shop. But all the time, they are hardening their muscles and sharpening their wits so that the pretence of being grown-up helps them to grow up in earnest."

C.S. Lewis,"Let's Pretend"

Rooftop View and the Parable of the lost coin

Horizontal and Vertical

I didn't make the artwork to illustrate this quote but as it turns out the quote illustrated ended up perfectly illustrating what I was trying to say. 

"The very essence of the new covenant is that Christ passes over the sins of his bride. His bride is free from shame not because she is perfect, but because she has no fear that her lover will condemn her or shame her because of her sin.

This is why the doctrine of justification by grace through faith is at the very heart of what makes marriage work the way God designed it. Justification creates peace with God vertically, in spite of our sin. And when experienced horizontally, it creates shame-free space between an imperfect man and an imperfect woman."

- John Piper

Peruvian Produce Mandala

This painting was inspired by my first month of married life when my cooking skills were forcibly rekindled and the house was overrun with summer flies. Pictured is produce most commonly found in the markets of Peru. Can you spot the fly I killed and drew into the still life?

Mere Christianity Illustrations "Charity"

"The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.'

[...]

"Some writers use the word charity to describe not only Christian love between human beings, but also God's love for man and man's love for God. About the second of these two, people are often worried. They are told they ought to love God. They cannot find any such feeling in themselves. What are they to do? Do not sit trying to manufacture feelings. Ask yourself, 'If I were sure that I loved God, what would I do?' When you have found the answer, go and do it."

C.S. Lewis, "Charity"