This month . . .

is the month where “A Month in My Life” is more like “A Week in My Life.” Each week will feature a different former 90&9 blogger for the duration of December. And this week, it’s me (drumroll, please) . . .

Chantell Smith.

Ah, yes, ‘tis I, of month-of-May fame. Ahem. Well, I’m back, taking a break from my usual blog, Where You Can Find Me, to bring you Decemberly musings for an exclusive week. (And I'll throw in some more Spanish vocab on the side.)

And it’s Friday. Yay! I don’t have any huge plans for the weekend . . . other than maybe taking a cooking class. I got an email about a free class at Williams-Sonoma tomorrow morning, and being that I always bewail my lack of culinary prowess, I might as well jump in and do something to at least say that I tried.

Anyway, kick back, enjoy your weekend, and see you on Monday!

Spanish word/phrase of the day: gracias a Dios que hoy es viernes (GRAH-see-ahs ah dee-OHS kay oy ehs bee-EHR-nehs)= thank God it's Friday!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Don't Wait For The World To Change

In us the world will see the promise of Christ, the beauty of today, and the hope for tomorrow. If they never hear our doctrines, never come to our meetings or subscribe to our unique philosophies, they must see Him.

As you look at different governmental structures you might notice that many of the strong handed regimes of the world employ a very simple yet aggressive means to control the populace, bigger than life images of their leader everywhere you go. From Stalin to Hitler to Hussein, these men kept a strong presence amongst their people to keep them intimidated.

God didn’t give us a picture of Himself. He could have easily made a rendering of Himself on a third tablet and handed it to Moses. He could have drawn a picture of Himself on the wall when He wrote that mene mene thing. There are all kinds of places that He could have posted a big picture of Himself to keep us on our guard. Yet, He didn’t do that, have you ever wondered why?

In fact, He gave explicit instructions not to make any graven (carved or sculptured) images of any god or pseudo-god. He didn’t want a fierce or condescending image of Himself plastered on every wall of downtown Jerusalem or New York City or Wickett, Texas. Instead He did what He does best. He created avenues of beauty to whisper or even shout His presence to the world.

To make it all complete though, He created His church, men and women over time that have individually been the threads in the tapestry that illustrates the image of God. When the world sees the church, they see the reflection of His light. The Church is a luminary, while He is an illuminary. We hold and reflect light, He emanates it. Without Him the Church has no ability to change the world around it.

John Mayer produced a song on his latest project “Continuum” called “Waiting For The World To Change.”

Waiting On The World To Change Video - John Mayer lyrics

John Mayer Music Video Codes

It’s a beautifully sad anthem of where we are as a society. We all have this innate desire to see the world be something beautiful, but if we wait for all of the conditions to become just right, we’ll never see it come to pass. So, my challenge to you in this final blog is for you to use every ounce of talent or creativity that you have to express the image of God in the world today. Don’t wait for the world to change, change it.

Thank you for reading my blogs. I will continue to write blogs at my website ArmandoHeredia.com. If you would like to receive notification of when I post (it probably won’t be everyday like I’ve been doing this month) please let me know by emailing me. Don’t forget to post something beautiful to this blog. Click here to send the email. Just put your email list in the blind carbon copy (bcc) section and sign your name at the bottom. Click on the comment section below to post your response. The world will see the beautiful self portrait of God through your responses.

God bless you and keep you passionate for His kingdom.

-Armando Heredia

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

The Self Portrait of God

In a flickering reflection of lightning across the sky
I thought I saw the twinkle of laughter in my Father’s eye
And in the soft white petals of a small dainty flower
I saw the brushstrokes of the Master Creator

He’s been painting a picture on the canvas of time
This image of beauty that shimmers in every line,
Is a portrait of Himself created in exquisite perfection
Creator of all things seen clearly through His creation

I’ve done a few portraits. A real portrait, though, goes beyond just a canvas with paint on it. A true portrait captures the nuances of a man or woman’s character and is able to display the spirit or soul of that person. Whether it is captured in the intensity of the eyes or the gentleness of a smile or the confidence of a posture, that small moment of time that it takes to snap a photo or capture an image in the artist’s mind must translate to the canvas.

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I have to disagree. Beauty is beauty regardless of who beholds it. The character of beauty transcends its need to be seen. God isn’t beautiful because we have seen Him and affirm His beauty. He shares His beauty because He is beautiful not so we can tell Him so.

The word portrait comes from the Latin word prōtrahere which means to draw forth. When we look around and see that even the heavens declare the glory of God we are catching glimpses of His self portrait. If, over a lifetime, we could capture moments of beauty and translate them into images to create a montage, we would begin to see who He is.

Tomorrow is my last post. Here's your part in this. Email as many people as you know and ask them to post anything beautiful to this blog. Click here to send the email. Just put your email list in the blind carbon copy (bcc) section and sign your name at the bottom. Click on the comment section below to post your response.

Every fragment of beauty is a brushstroke of the Image of God.

-Armando


Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

What will I leave with you?

A tidbit of knowledge
Gleaned from the field of life.
A little bit of wisdom learned by mistake
A creative spark of inspiration for you to take.

To make the world a better place for tomorrow
To lead a generation of learners to God.
And give back these talents that we’ve borrowed
To the One who is the Maker of it all.

Or what if we close our eyes now,
And miss the beauty of everything?
And clench our teeth and never sing,
Nor listen for the voice of Majesty.

Would He still make the sunset as brilliant?
Or make the seashell sound like the ocean’s in it?
Would He stop the birds from singing,
If He knew we weren’t listening?

In these last few days of November I will be focusing on the Self-portrait of the Creator. Here's your part in this. Email as many people as you know and ask them to post anything beautiful to this blog. Click here to send the email. Just put your email list in the blind carbon copy (bcc) section and sign your name at the bottom. Click on the comment section below to post your response.

Every fragment of beauty is a facet of the Image of God.

-Armando

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Woundable

I think James had a good grasp on what being a creative was about. He was all about faith being active. His practical Christianity was rooted in the fact that a Christianity stuck in your head was worthless. Theories and concepts, dogmas and doctrines only become meaningful when they become played out in the marketplace of life. There is no risk in an idea until you open your mouth or take a step.

If you think about it, creativity is another facet of faith. Creative people are constantly making themselves vulnerable, placing their vision on canvas, paper, video or some other medium for the world to accept or reject, embrace or attack. When you really scrutinize what it means to have faith, it’s also about making yourself vulnerable. Have you ever wondered why God asked Moses to remove his sandals? He was asking Moses to place himself at His mercy, to have complete faith in His motive. That translates beautifully in the life of a creative.

Vulnerable’s root word comes from the Latin, vulnerā, it means to wound. Vulnerable literally means “woundable.” When I am staring at a blank white page or canvas I have this initial fear that what I am about to attempt will be a failure, but if I am not willing to convey what’s inside, then I already fail.

I know I keep jumping back and forth from faith to creativity, but I can’t separate them, to me they are the same. God has placed this gift within us, earthen vessels, to glorify Himself in us. Through our lips in speech or song, our hands on canvas or sculpture, our body and feet in dance, every member is designed to create praise.

Think about what Jesus said about prayer. He said not to make vain repetition like the heathen, right? Well, why not? I think that’s a valid question, don’t you? Here’s my opinion: He’s looking for His reflection as the Creator in you. Reciting a list of memorized words can be beautiful, no doubt, but they’re not your words. Be creative in your approach to Him.

Be willing to be wounded by people who don’t understand you or your vision. In the end nobody will know what you thought or felt unless you expressed it. Even God, the Creator, manifested, or made Himself visible, to the world as the man, Jesus Christ, the express image of God and even He was wounded.

"If I have this one life to give
Only remembered by what I did
I hope that they say they could see
The reflection of God shining through me"

-Armando

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!