This little wreath is all over the place :) It's in my website URL, on my business cards, at the top of my invoices, and elsewhere. I love it so much, not entirely for reasons I can explain, other than I just like the way it is. This summer I had a lull in orders and so I decided to work on something that was personally either meaningful, or just fun :) It did however, come from some inspiration inside me that I will try to flesh out here. It started with these words:
We are your Church, we are the hope on earth. -Rend Collective
These words aren't meant to be presumptuous, or to sound like christians are the only ones doing "hope-filled" things, for I see so many people bringing hope to others, people giving of themselves. I am so inspired by so many different people who, I believe, are made in the image of God, making things new, as He does. I believe all good things are the result of a Good Creator.
I also believe that Christians have a message that brings the greatest hope on earth...hope that people can be named, known, loved, and redeemed by this Good Creator. Christians, should be like the branches of a rose bush, getting their source of life from the plant, and springing forth with life and beauty for the world to see (John 15). Full of life, they bring hope and beauty to all that surrounds them. When you look at them, you should be reminded of vivacious blossoms growing through thorns and thistles and dirt, bursting forth, protesting the gloom surrounding them.
"Sit with me and tell me once again of the story that been told us, of the power that will hold us, of the beauty, oh the beauty, why it matters. Speak to me until I understand why our thinking and creating, and our efforts of narrating about the beauty, oh the beauty, why it matters. Like a statue in the park of this war-torn town, with it's protest of the darkness, in this chaos all around, with its beauty, how it matters, how it matters." -Why It Matters by Sara Groves
Also in drawing this, I also believe that my faith is inseparable from the family that surrounds those beliefs. I cannot claim a historic orthodox belief system all by myself. I am intertwined with others...sometimes in conflict, sometimes in mistakes, all together making something beautiful and full of life. And for some reason, less beautiful without others. When I say I believe in Jesus, it goes without saying that I believe in His Church...they are one, and they are to be hope on earth. This beautiful, inseparable-from-Christ, Church will one day take your breath away. Right now she is still growing into who she will one day be, but I believe in her, and when I look at this wreath in it's liveliness and joy, it helps me remember.
Rose Wreath
Prints available, contact me or go to my shop.