This Woman Writes by Carolyn Henderson

Day Jobs and Daydreaming

Posted on June 3, 2013 by This Woman Writes

When we create, we get a feeling of exhilaration and joy. Ocean Breeze, original and signed limited edition print at Steve Henderson Fine Art; open edition print at Great Big Canvas

From the Start Your Week with Steve Newsletter of Steve Henderson Fine Art:

Steve Says:

“This last weekend found me in Joseph, OR, judging the Wallowa Valley Festival Arts Exhibition, a regional art show encompassing the inland Pacific Northwest.

“I was struck not only by the art, but by the artists, many of whom were presently working a day job, but who devoted time to their art at night and on weekends — something I did for many years while I worked as a lay medical illustrator.

“Many of the jobs of these artists, however, did not involve creating art during the day. They worked for retail stores, utility companies, educational establishments, and they drove, sold, repaired broken items, and dealt with customer problems and complaints.

The road we walk each day takes us not just to work and back, but to our studio, our hobby room, our garden, where we create. Off the Grid, original oil painting by Steve Henderson

“Several of them told me, I daydream about doing this full time some day.

“As a person who does do this full time during the day, I didn’t want to cast a cloud by mentioning that painting full time, as a business, requires a significant time being spent attending to the business aspect, because I appreciate the value of their dream, and their day dream:

“They want to create. That’s what we as humans are designed for, really, and it’s why we invent things, write books, build bridges, and paint.

“Our society, and our media, emphasize science, math, and computers as the means to develop ourselves into a better world, but in focusing exclusively on these academic disciplines, we lose sight of the other half — the artistic half — that not only makes the world a better place, but the lives of the people who are practicing these artistic pursuits as well.

The act of creating something gives us a sense of enchanted contentment. Enchanted, original oil painting and signed limited edition print at Steve Henderson Fine Art; open edition print at Great Big Canvas

“Regardless of what you do as a day job, if you feel a sense of urgency, a strong desire, a driving need to paint, sculpt, write, cook, knit, carve — whatever it is that you do to create art — then don’t wait until that magical retirement day to get started.

“You need to do this. The world needs you to do this.”

Read the rest, and subscribe, at the weekly Start Your Week with Steve Newsletter.

Steve Henderson’s artwork is available in many sizes and price ranges. You may find it at the following links:

Posted in Art, Beauty, blogging, Business, Culture, Current Events, Daily Life, Education, Encouragement, Growth, home, inspirational, Job, Life, Lifestyle, News, Personal, Random, success, Uncategorized, Work | Tagged arts, day job, daydream, full time artist, great big canvas, illustration, newsletter | Leave a comment

Labeling People and Not Labeling Food

Posted on May 31, 2013 by This Woman Writes

We don’t give them much credit for it, but most of the time, the average pre-schooler knows what he or she is talking about.

Small, demanding people often know what they’re talking about. Bold Innocence — limited edition print at Steve Henderson Fine Art; open edition licensed fine art print at Great Big Canvas.

The other day I shared lunch with a random four-year-old and we decided upon deli chicken. My dinner companion informed me, quite definitively, that he wanted the kind of chicken “with the bones sticking out all over it.” This was accompanied by a series of acrobatic contortions that involved wrapping his elbows around his forehead.

“Hmm,” was my response. Obviously, he was being four, and had no idea of what he was talking about.

But he did, and at the deli counter, he repeated his instructions, both verbally and physically, adamant in that he was expressing a valid opinion.

So I stopped being so superciliously adult for a moment and seriously looked at the bin of random baked chicken pieces, piled helter-skelter one atop the other.

And epiphany hit.

“Do you mean a wing?” I asked.

“Yes!” he smiled at me, gratified that I finally understood.

I empathize with how he feels. I undergo similar mental and physical contortions when I am shopping for food, and want to find out – by reading the label – just what is in the product, so that I can ultimately decide whether or not I want to purchase it.

It’s wheat free, allergen free, vegan, certified Kosher, and “natural” — all great information. Now, I just need one more small addendum. Off the Grid, original oil painting by Steve Henderson Fine Art

But while I’m told that it’s gluten-free (most bananas are) or kosher (I’m not Jewish), made with real sweet potatoes (there are fake sweet potatoes?) or on Facebook (who isn’t, these days?), what I really want to know, isn’t there.

Theoretically, what I am concerned about is nothing, and scientists of one camp assure me that the products which have undergone the modifications I’m worried about are safe, and I am foolish for thinking otherwise.

That’s fine. I’m glad they think so.

But these scientists of one camp don’t make dinner at my house, and I like to be the one making the decisions about what I serve, and do not serve, at my table. And in order to make that decision, I look at the package for elucidation.

“All Natural,” doesn’t mean much. Nicotine is natural, and I tend to avoid it in my salad dressing.

“No artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives” is nice as well, but inapplicable to placating my concerns.

All I want is the phrase, “GMO-free,” or, “This food contains no Genetically Modified Organisms – apparently, I’m not alone in looking for this confirmation — but it’s really difficult to find.

It’s a complicated dance, these days, being a wise, savvy, determined consumer. She Danced by the Light of the Moon, original painting at Steve Henderson Fine Art; open edition licensed art print at Great Big Canvas

Why?

Right now I am staring at the back of a bag of chips that, through symbols and words, assures me that it is All Natural, Certified Gluten Free, Certified Vegan, Cholesterol Free, Trans-fat free – there are a dozen reassurances of what this product is free of. Even as I scan the label I hear media voices scolding me for worrying about nothing.

But I do. And if I am foolish, I am a college educated fool (for what that is worth nowadays), one of minority who knows when to use “him and me” and “he and I,” someone who reads more than four books a year. Most of us in this country are serious when we say what we like and don’t like, and when we ask for a chicken wing, we get irritated when we are treated as if we asked for “the piece with the bones sticking out all over it.”

Consumer choice begins when consumers are given a choice in the first place.

It’s my call, not anybody else’s, to determine what I will ingest, and that determination would be a lot easier to make, if I were given the necessary facts to make it. I do not need to be “educated” as a consumer, but I would appreciate being respected.

All of the artwork in my articles is by Steve Henderson, the Norwegian Artist, and it may be found at the following links:

Posted in Art, blogging, children, cooking, Culture, Current Events, Daily Life, Encouragement, Family, Food, Green, Growth, health, home, Humor, inspirational, Life, Lifestyle, News, Parenting, Random, self-improvement, shopping, success, Uncategorized | Tagged chicken, consumer, GMO, labels, natural, science | 2 Comments

In the Body of Christ, Are You a Toe, Mouth, or Elbow?

Posted on May 29, 2013 by This Woman Writes

This may be hard to believe, but sometimes I go weeks without thinking about the big toe on my left foot.

When the old toe is acting up, it’s hard for the rest of the body to run, jump, and play. Reflection, original oil and signed limited edition print through Steve Henderson Fine Art; open edition fine art print through Great Big Canvas

And then one day, a wrenching pain will originate at the toe and shoot its way up nerve pathways to my brain, and everything with the exception of my internal organs, stops.

Years ago, when I mentioned this at a health physical, some insensitive medico cheerily replied,

“Oh, it’s probably arthritis. You’re getting old, you know!”

It’s no wonder I avoid these people.

But back to my toe — it’s really not a major part of my body, and for the most part, I don’t think about relying upon it too much. I mean, most of my day is spent looking at things, listening, keyboarding, knitting — my eyes, my ears, my hands — they get my primary attention and love.

And yet, when the toe cries out, everything revolves around it, because it really does have an essential function in my balance and ability to walk, jump, and dance, something I don’t realize until it’s feeling sulky.

To move gracefully, all of our body needs to be working well together. Girl in a Copper Dress 2, original available at Steve Henderson Fine Art; open edition art print at Great Big Canvas. 1 of 3 in the Girl in a Copper Dress series.

Upshot? Every part of our body is important in its own way, and while we may use some parts more than others, we don’t willingly damage, disparage, ignore, or dispense with any of the rest.

Within the body of Christ, however, we do this all the time.

If you attend a church regularly, you can probably readily identify the people who think that they are the eyes and the ears and the hands, and it’s relatively easy to pick out the Mouths, but the rest of us in this environment, the toes and belly buttons and elbows, are hidden in shoes and covered by shirt fronts and stuffed into sleeves, where we quietly do the things that we do.

As the Apostle Paul phrases it in Ephesians, the Head is Christ, and the rest of us form a body that, “joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

If it’s difficult being a toe, can you imagine what it’s like to be an unnamed ligament?

And yet we all are, at some point, depending upon the circumstances. Some of us who spend a lot of time stuffed into an athletic shoe have our moments to be eyes, and knees, noses, and even Mouths.

Every single part of our body plays a crucial function. Thoughtful figurative, available through Amazon.com

In our efforts to feel useful and ascribe meaning to our lives, we too often forget that we are complex human beings, with complex lives and skills, and shortchange ourselves by identifying ourselves (or worse, letting someone else identify us) as being gifted in a limited, particular “ministry,” resulting that we box ourselves in being, permanently, a toe.

You have many gifts, many abilities, many good works to perform that will sometime require that you use your hands, your quads, your rib cage, your shoulder blade, and when it’s your turn to be an eye or an ear or a Mouth, don’t forget that there are also times that you will be a toe. Rejoice in this.

When you finish reading this article, try something: get up and walk twenty steps, focusing your thoughts on your toes — big one as well as the other four piggies. Do you feel what they’re doing to enable you to walk?

Now close your eyes and take a few more steps — bet you’re even more aware of your toes.

They’re pretty important.

All of the artwork in my articles is by Steve Henderson, the Norwegian Artist, and it may be found at the following links:

The Thoughtful and Figurative pieces may be found as posters at

Posted in Art, Beauty, blogging, Christian, Culture, Current Events, Daily Life, Encouragement, Family, home, inspirational, Life, Lifestyle, News, Personal, religion, self-improvement, Uncategorized | Tagged body, body of Christ, church, gifts, prints, toe | 8 Comments

Just Pick up a Chicken, Already

Posted on May 27, 2013 by This Woman Writes

Chickens are simpler than they seem, which says a lot, because they’re not particularly complicated. Photo by Steve Henderson Fine Art

From the Start Your Week with Steve Newsletter of Steve Henderson Fine Art:

Steve Says:

“When we moved onto our property, it came complete with a dozen chickens; the former owners had bought one or two of several different breeds, but they didn’t have room for the birds in their new homes. So they gave them to us.

“And so, knowing nothing about chickens, we were suddenly the owner of 12 of them — a Barred Rock, a Black Australorp, some unidentifiable yellow creature, a Rhode Island Red, and a rooster that looked just like the bird on the Corn Flakes box.

“We had four young children, and we were building our house. We didn’t have time to worry about chickens, or a proper chicken run, or an appropriate chicken house, so we set up some hay bales for them, tossed out feed, and hoped that chickens were survivors.

Our chickens, and goats, free range over a field of dreams. Field of Dreams by Steve Henderson.

“They are. They thrived, to the point of brooding and hatching out more chickens. As time went by, we gave some birds away and added others, but from the first day enjoyed the primary gift of a chicken: truly farm fresh, free-range eggs.

“Over the years we have talked with people who have wanted to keep chickens, but have never done so because they’re ‘not ready.’ They don’t have a proper chicken run or appropriate chicken house, and they never move beyond thinking about keeping chickens.

“Years go by, and they’re still not ready.

“But our experience shows that you don’t have to create the perfect nursery environment, complete with curtains that match the bedding, in order to keep chickens. Sometimes, you just have buy a couple chicks — and a heat lamp to keep them warm — and get started.

“Otherwise, those years keep going by, and you’re still buying eggs from the store.”

Read the rest of the newsletter, and subscribe for free, at Start Your Week with Steve.

Steve’s artwork is available as

Originals — through the Steve Henderson Fine Art Website

Signed Limited Edition Prints — through the website

Inspirational Posters — through the website

Licensed Open Edition Fine Art Prints — through Great Big Canvas, Light in the Box, and Sagebrush Fine Art

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Irises Don’t Smell

Posted on May 24, 2013 by This Woman Writes

Especially if you have teenagers, you can go through each day feeling as if no one listens to a thing that you say, but let me assure you, your words make a difference.

In the same way that they come in many colors, irises feature many different aromas — but they do smell. Photo by Steve Henderson Fine Art

I Love You is always impacting, as is its counterpart, but even innocuous sentences can resonate far beyond their initial utterance.

Like this one:

“Irises don’t smell.”

I don’t know who said that to me, twenty years ago or so, but it obviously stuck.

On first hearing it, my thought was, “Of course irises smell!” I remembered their honey-sweet aroma from when I was eight years old, plunging my olfactory glands deep into the blossoming sensuality of the flower.

For some reason, I didn’t actually smell an iris again until I was in my 40s, when a friend piled a series of exotic bulbs on us and springtime found them bursting forth. As I walked by, a group of them beckoned to me in the breeze, and cupping one flower gently in my hands, I thought, “Irises do smell, don’t they?”

Indeed they do, and don’t let any anonymous voice follow you through the decades denying the experience of your childhood.

Sights, sounds, smells, touch — all of these can transport us back to our childhood. Summer Breeze, at the Lawrence Gallery, by Steve Henderson

As I inhaled the heady, complexity of the flower’s aroma, 35 years dropped instantly away, and I was eight-years-old again, in the backyard of my childhood home, smelling irises. I had no idea that smell is a more powerful inducer of memories than sight or sound, but in this case it definitely was.

I moved gently from one bloom to the next — thanks to my friend I had a significant number from which to choose — and breathed in. This one was deeply aromatic, that one lighter and sassier; a third one had no smell at all — which could explain my unremembered commentator’s observation — but a fourth one beckoned me with its balmy, fragrant, perfume.

At lunch I announced, “Irises smell — they’re beautiful!”

“Of course they do,” the Norwegian Artist replied. “They have an amazing aroma. Who told you otherwise?”

“Somebody, a long time ago.”

How many other misconceptions have I held on to all these years without proving whether or not they’re true?

That afternoon, our granddaughter Small Person was with us, and I decided to give her a gift she could enjoy 30 years hence:

“Smell this flower!” I brought it down so that she could breathe it in.

She did, but she’s four, and I don’t think my point got through.

So I sought out Tired of Being Youngest and dragged her out to the flower beds.

“Smell this flower!”

“It’s . . . sweet. Is there anything special about it?”

Sweet 16 — youth will not last forever, but memories endure. Ocean Breeze, open edition art print available at Great Big Canvas. Original and limited edition print at Steve Henderson Fine Art

“Trust me,” I replied. “Close your eyes, smell it, and feel the sunshine on your shoulders. Thirty years from now, when you breathe in the aroma of an iris, you will be 16 again.

“So yes, there is something special about this flower.”

Irises do smell, my friend, and they are beautiful.

They’re in bloom right now where I live, and I spend a lot of time with my face immersed in their petals, capturing their essence and storing it into my memory banks. Thirty years from now, when I am 80, this tiny time machine will transport me back to, not only when I was an eight-year-old child, but to a 50-year-old woman, still discovering, learning about, and marveling at the world around her.

Find an iris, and go ahead: Inhale.

Do you find writing awkward or difficult? My book, Grammar Despair: Quick, simple answers to questions like, “Do I say him and me or he and I?” is written with you in mind. Available through Amazon.com, the paperback version is $8.99, the Kindle version $5.99.

Posted in Art, Beauty, blogging, Culture, Current Events, Daily Life, Encouragement, Family, gardening, grandparenting, Green, Growth, home, inspirational, Life, Lifestyle, Motherhood, Parenting, Personal, Random, self-improvement, Uncategorized | Tagged aroma, childhood, flowers, iris, memories, nature, outdoors, plants, sweet 16 | 6 Comments

Dropping the Name of Jesus

Posted on May 22, 2013 by This Woman Writes

Has this ever happened to you?

You’re at some religious function (I don’t do these any more, but the memories are strong), and as part of an ice-breaking game, you’re asked, “What three books would you bring with you on a desert island?”

Three books on a desert island — can it be a multi-volume series? Embrace Each Day poster by Steve Henderson

So hard. So hard.

Pride and Prejudice? Jane Eyre? The Lord of the Rings Trilogy? Any Agatha Christie novel?

Harry Potter? Nah, I’m just joking on that one. Although I suppose you would need toilet paper.

The key thing is that this is a religious function, and someone out there is sure to say, “The Holy Bible,” at which point, everyone else is obligated to include that as one of their three options.

Or if you’re asked, “What are your three favorite possessions?” someone will feel compelled to say say, “My salvation in Jesus Christ.”

The three living people you most want to meet? While you’re agonizing between Benedict Cumberbatch and Tommy Lee Jones, someone intones, “The Lord Jesus Christ.”

“You said living people.”

“But the Lord Jesus Christ is living. Or didn’t you know that?”

Ouch. Such love.

Loving one another. It’s a lifetime process of perfecting our abilities in this. Beachside Diversions, original and limited edition prints on Steve Henderson Fine Art Website, open edition art print at Great Big Canvas.

You get the idea. There go one of the three options, and you feel like a heathen because you didn’t think of it first, you were so busy thinking about earthly, fleshly, irreligious, heathen, barbaric things.

And while you really have never thought of yourself as a barbaric heathen, you must be, because you didn’t get the right answer first.

You’re okay. I’m okay. Just focus on saying the name, “Cumberbatch,” correctly, because a mispronunciation would be most unfortunate.

If you are steeped within 21st century evangelical Christian culture, you may consider the random name dropping of Jesus to be normal, even a sign of the name dropper’s deep spirituality, but I assure you that people outside of the closed group are not drawn to Christianity by this subterfuge.

You casual name droppers? You’re not as subtle as you think.

Several years ago, The Norwegian Artist entertained a small group of visitors in his studio. He’s remarkably laid back about this, and although they gave him ten minutes warning, he graciously set away his brushes and invited them in to tour.

After 45, 46 seconds or so, it became obvious that they weren’t there to view paintings so much as to extract “secret painting techniques” from the Norwegian. (This might be a good time to mention that the Norwegian Artist’s secret painting techniques are these: he reads, thinks, analyzes, loves, laughs, and paints a lot. He gets up when he falls down. He works through problems until he solves them, and he considers failure an integral part of success.)

Color, form, feeling, the human form — you don’t achieve mastery in these areas by a series of cheap, fast “tricks.” Evening Waltz, original oil painting by Steve Henderson

But that’s not what these guests were looking for:

“What do you do with this?”

“How did you get that color?”

“Can you show me how you do that?”

One question, or two, is one thing; 30 minutes worth of questions is an art lesson.

But these people weren’t about to pay for an art lesson. They wanted free, and speaking of free, salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ is free as the Norwegian Artist found out when the guests dropped His name:

“After this, we’re heading to the Joy of Jesus event in Big Town.”

They looked at him sideways to make sure he got the message: Jesus name dropped, we know Him, you’ll want to know Him too.

With a cheery wave in the breeze, the Norwegian Artist sent his guests on. Mesa Walk — original sold, open edition art print available at Light in the Box

All the Norwegian Artist really knew is that five people had spent the last 30 minutes trying to extract free painting secrets from him. He smiled politely, wished them good day, ushered them out, and waved.

Yes, they made an impact. Quite a memorable one, actually.

Just saying the name of Jesus is not the secret of drawing people to Him. If there is a secret, it’s this:

Read, think, analyze, love, laugh and live.

Steve Henderson’s Art may be found by hitting the following links:

Posted in Art, Beauty, blogging, books, Christian, Culture, Current Events, Daily Life, Encouragement, Family, Growth, home, homeschooling, Humor, inspirational, Life, Lifestyle, News, Personal, Random, religion, self-improvement, success, Uncategorized | Tagged Agatha Christie, benedict cumberbatch, Christian, Cumberbatch, game, Jesus, lord jesus christ, name dropping, Pride and Prejudice | 8 Comments

Bicycling to South America, or Just Down the Street

Posted on May 20, 2013 by This Woman Writes

From the Start Your Week with Steve Newsletter of Steve Henderson Fine Art:

Steve Says:

Where is the day’s road taking us? Blue Ribbon, original watercolor by Steve Henderson

“I have bicycled to and through South America three times. The longest trip, taken in my 20s, started in Alaska, ended in Argentina, then continued as Ted (my biking buddy) and I headed back up to Buenos Aires, flew to Florida, then returned to Oregon the long way, heading north to Maine then turning west. It took two-and-a-half years.

“You learn a lot about yourself, the quality of bicycle tires, and Spanish grammar in a trip of this length. Although my Spanish is rusty, the life lessons are in full application, because what I learned on these trips set up the foundation for who I became as an adult:

“No matter how hard you want to, you will not accomplish the entire trip on one day. Or two. Or a month.

“No matter how slow you go, as long as you keep going, you will eventually make it to your destination.

“No matter how many hills you have climbed (and one of our hills was Ticlio Pass, 15,807 feet in the Peruvian Andes), someone is sure to tell you that this next hill, the one outside their town, is too difficult to tackle.

“You may have a specific destination on mind for that evening, or the end of that week, when someone spontaneously asks you to stay. The destination will still be there. Focus on people.

“And most importantly: do not talk about what you wish you could have done, and regret not doing it your entire life. If you have a dream, seek a way to fulfill it.

“Life. Every day of it is a journey.”

Read the rest, and subscribe, at Start Your Week with Steve

Steve Henderson’s Art may be found by hitting the following links:

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Customer Service and Too Many Male Kiwi Plants

Posted on May 17, 2013 by This Woman Writes

If you’re looking for a basil plant, or oregano, or even rosemary, you can pretty much announce this on the city sidewalks and someone will shove one of these into your hand, but if you want a tarragon plant, even a visit to a proper nursery doesn’t ensure that you’ll get one.

No, this isn’t tarragon. It is the Norwegian Artist’s outrageously orange lily, which we’ll encounter later in this story. Photo by Steve Henderson Fine Art

This last week, Tired of Being Youngest has been on a quest for this anise-flavored herb, and so desperate are we that we stopped into two places I swore I would never frequent again because the only people who smile and wave at us there, or seem remotely glad to see us, are the plants themselves.

Perhaps I’m quaintly old fashioned, but I think customer service is an integral part of doing business with one another. One of the nurseries I abhor is very very small; the other is very very large. At the first one, I can generally find the proprietor, gloomily shoving plants around. I’m not sure what the mood of the employees is at the second place, since I rarely encounter these people and frequently question whether they actually exist.

I’m sure they’re there, but since they don’t identify themselves by a vest or a name tag or a “Hi! I’m Bob,” button, I wander about, looking confused and helpless, hoping that someone will notice my agitation and ask me if I’m looking for something specific, a tarragon plant, perhaps? It doesn’t do any good to go to the checkout area, since that is frequently uninhabited as well.

Sometimes I do, indeed, leave the crowd behind. But not when I’m at a nursery, looking for a human being to help me find a tarragon plant. Leave the crowd behind poster by Steve Henderson

One lucky day, when I found an employee who would talk to me, I asked about male and female Kiwi plants — you need at least one of each to produce fruit, something quite common in the animal kingdom — but all of the pots were labeled “male.”

“Do you have any female plants?” I asked.

“Oh, they’re in there. Somebody just forgot to order the ‘female’ labels and marked everything as ‘male,'” he replied.

“Well, which ones are female, then?”

“I don’t know. You can’t really tell until they get bigger. If you buy five or six, chances are you’ll get at least one male or one female in there.”

Actually, chances are higher that I won’t buy anything from this place at all, and I never do.

It was at the third nursery, the one that wasn’t too big or too small but just right, where we hit pay dirt, so to speak. Not that we found a tarragon plant, but we were effusively greeted by the enthusiastic owner. At the time, although overhead sprinklers were watering the plants, with the serious possibility of splattering customers as well, this wasn’t a problem, because the owner and her employees dashed out and grabbed whatever caught people’s eye.

The vibrant orange of the lily stands out as strongly as the bright fabric of the Canyon Sprite. Eyrie, open edition print by Steve Henderson at Great Big Canvas

At this point Tired of Being Youngest and I realized that, though weren’t going to successfully encounter a tarragon plant that day, we were buying something, and we did — an outrageously orange lily that Tired of Being Youngest purchased for the Norwegian Artist’s birthday, because Norwegian Artists thrive on outrageously colored plants.

This morning, as the Norwegian was sipping his tea and admiring the plant, he mused, “We need some larger perennial bushes for this front area.”

“I know exactly the place where we can find them,” I replied.

All of the painting images in my articles are by Steve Henderson, the Norwegian Artist. You can find his art by hitting the following links:

Posted in Art, blogging, Business, Culture, Current Events, Daily Life, Encouragement, Family, gardening, Green, Growth, home, Humor, inspirational, Life, Lifestyle, News, Personal, shopping, Uncategorized | Tagged basil plant, birthday, landscaping, licensed art, nature, nursery, plants | 6 Comments

Seventy Times Seven

Posted on May 15, 2013 by This Woman Writes

I was an English major in college, which effectively means that I know how to read a long boring book and write pages and pages on symbolic interpretation that may or may not be valid. What a crucial skill.

Years away from my English degree, I have learned to simply enjoy the books I am reading. Provincial Afternoon by Steve Henderson

But despite my strength being in words, not numbers, I can still perform basic mathematical functions — like figuring out that 70 x 7 is 490 — an amount that may seem familiar to you from the Biblical account of the apostle Peter — one of those impulsive sorts who blurts out whatever is on the surface of his mind — asking Christ how many times he needed to forgive his brother.

“Seventy times seven,” Christ answers, or, in other versions, “Seventy-seven,” but why quibble? If you’re like me, you haven’t reached either number.

So often, when we talk about forgiveness, we focus on the big stuff — demonic despots who destroy people’s lives so that they can enrich their own — but it’s amazing how small things grow to epic proportions in our minds. On a personal level, there are some people mighty close to my heart who have made questionable decisions that other people, who aren’t as close to their hearts as I am, just have trouble getting over.

“I can’t support this person in that decision. They haven’t suffered properly and repented enough.”

God puts family into our lives so that we can practice forgiveness. Seaside Story by Steve Henderson, original sold; open edition art print at Great Big Canvas

If they would simply say this thought aloud, I would give them bonus points for honesty, albeit a misguided perception of what our part is to play in the lives of others.

God forgives sins; He does a remarkably good job of it.

We do not.

And then we have children, and we learn — seriously learn — what forgiveness means (and don’t worry, progeny; you haven’t done anything majorly wrong lately, so I’m not aiming at you.) Children are just a primary means of learning the concept of unconditional love, and unconditional love is just that — it doesn’t set up parameters.

Forgiveness — something people who insanely love one another do over and over again — is a fine line between not losing the relationship and not getting hurt again, and the best person to do the forgiving is the person who has been hurt.

It is remarkably easy — and I have done this — to sit in the seat of the audience, watching what we think is the action but misinterpreting what we see — quite similar, actually, to what literature students do to books.

Forgiveness is a dance that takes many steps, but the end result is beautiful. Evening Waltz, original painting available at Steve Henderson Fine Art.

Yes, other people’s children do dumb things.

Gracious — these misguided and improperly raised people may have a maleficent influence upon our own children.

So best, indeed, to keep them away. They’re not positive role models. Reject the parents as well, since the whole thing is pretty much their fault.

This attitude does not count toward Seventy time Seven. It’s not even a fraction of the number one, and yet it is the standard reaction we all reach when we see someone who has stumbled and fallen, onto their face, try to get up again. Sometimes they even hold out their hand and ask us to give them some leverage.

But we hesitate, thinking — “If I help them, will I seem to be encouraging them in their wrong? Will I just make them go more wrong?”

With or without us, the person will get up again, and he or she may trip right back onto his face, or not. But he’ll always remember that, when he held out his hand, we walked away, something Christ never does.

Seventy times seven? How about if we just start with, “One”?

The fine art in my articles is by Steve Henderson of Steve Henderson Fine Art. Steve’s fine art can be found as original oil paintings, signed limited edition prints, and inspirational posters at the Steve Henderson Fine Art Website, and as open edition prints at Great Big Canvas and Light in the Box.

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Chickens Don’t Do That

Posted on May 13, 2013 by This Woman Writes

From Start Your Week with Steve, the weekly newsletter of Steve Henderson Fine Art:

Steve Says:

Focus on your goal, not on what people say is impossible to do. Focus on Your Goal poster by Steve Henderson

“From everything our son, the family expert on chickens, has read, certain breeds go broody and hatch chicks, and certain breeds don’t. Our son went out of his way to track down and purchase something called a Sicilian Buttercup, which is apparently the perfect chicken, except that it doesn’t go broody.

“As Carolyn recounts in her article, Chickens, Dishwashing, and Keynesian Economics, apparently all the best sources of information aren’t necessarily the best sources, because our two Sicilian Buttercups, which aren’t supposed to go broody, hatch chicks, and be decent mothers, have gone ahead and done all that.

“It’s always good to keep an open mind. It’s also good to not be discouraged from a project or way of doing things because everyone around you tells you that it can’t be done.

“That’s generally people’s first response, you know. That it can’t be done. It doesn’t matter what “That” is, the only thing that’s certain is that it can’t be done.

“The next time you hear that, just say to yourself, ‘Sicilian Buttercup.'”

Read the rest, and subscribe, at Start Your Week with Steve

Steve’s fine art can be found as original oil paintings, signed limited edition prints, and inspirational posters at the Steve Henderson Fine Art Website, and as open edition prints at Great Big Canvas and Light in the Box.