Happy December! This is a month to think about miracles and angels and to draw close to our hearts those who are both near and dear, as well as those we don't know or even dislike.
Great teachers have been teaching us this for centuries.
In John 13:34, Jesus tells his disciples, “I give you a new commandment, Love one another." Leviticus 19:18 famously commands that you “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (This extends even to the neighbor you dislike!)
The Upanishads: The Self is hidden in the lotus of the heart. Those who see themselves in all creatures go day by day into the world of Brahman [God] hidden in the heart. Chandogya 192.
And: "O mankind! Allah created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that you despise each other). " Qur'an (49:13)
So why do we still demonize each other? Is it our human fate to seek to dominate and fight one another? Some of the stories in the news this week have made me so sad - Buddhists and Muslims fighting in Myanmar; Palestinians and Israelis unable to live together in peace. On the other hand, there have been stories of great acts of love and kindness: a police officer giving boots to a homeless man on the streets of New York; and people like my friend Adam working day and night to help people displaced by Hurricane Sandy get back into their homes. How does so much love and kindness exist side by side in a world with so much anger and hatred?
Inspiration Avenue and Art Journal Journey have put out a call for angels; we need them in our lives more than ever. Here is an art journal page I created:
First, I squirted some magenta and yellow Golden Acrylics paint and wiped them on my page with a credit card. Then I added some bubble wrap stamping of Phalo green and wipes of blue on the edges.
Next, I used Titanium Buff and the Hebrew Calligraphy stencil (yes, this is a "sneak preview" for Thursday's first stencil test drive!) to add this beautiful lettering to my background:
I decoupaged some pictures of angels that I printed out on my computer, and painted their halos with gold acrylic paint:
And lastly, I wrote a phrase that we must constantly remind ourselves of: We must love especially those who are hard to love. It's easy to love those we are fond of, but maybe more important to love those we don't like by reminding ourselves that we all share the common goals of happiness and freedom from suffering.
Linking also to Simon Says Stamp and Show (A project with Heart.), Pin & Tack, Spark Your Creativity, and Art Journal Cafe.
And of course, as it is the first of December, I had to create a new calendar page. I was inspired by Ronda Palazzari's color palette in this post to swipe grey, cream and pink paint on my page.
I used the grey paint and the Medievil Leaves stencil to make this pattern:
Little rectangles cut from paper from Kaisercraft, and my December calendar is done!
Here's my November calendar all filled in:
Linking to The Kathryn Wheel calendar challenge.
How do you make sense of the love and hatred in the world? I'd love to know.
Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.
