I just glanced last night at the words....'Leonardo da Vinci painting sells for record $450.3 million" and faintly uttered something to myself like...."Lord have mercy on us!" It's interesting to me anyway that the painting Salvator Mundi may have been completed right around the time, maybe even the very year, that Martin Luther was nailing his 95 Theses into the church door at the castle at Wittenberg thus initiating the 16th century Reformation which in turn was responsible for the very existence of the United States of America. It's also interesting that the painting is an image of Jesus Christ.....dressed in Renaissance clothes....holding a crystal orb.
Twenty years ago my wife and son and I had a friend who had lived in institutions of one kind or another for his whole life of seventy-nine years. He was the gentlest soul that I have ever met. His mental capabilities were that of a six year old. His smile was more beautiful to me than when seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. He would say "I'm praying for you" every single time that we parted after visiting. He once cried after looking at a picture of Jesus carrying His cross. He gave me a prayer card once with a picture of Jesus on it and it is the only time in the last three decades or so that I could look at an image of Jesus and not wince, for we are not to make images of our Lord and Savior.
So I look at this painting today.....and wince.....and wonder. To my left as I type...about four feet away hanging on the wall.....is a painting that my mother did many years ago. On occasion she would copy an oil painting of one of the masters at someone's request. She copied van Gogh's The Potato Eaters and I don't even know where that is today. Her finest was The Doctor by English painter Sir Luke Fildes that was impressive as it hung in a local pharmacy for many years. The painting to my left is a Renoir self portrait.
I'm holding a similar orb as in the Leonardo da Vinci in my fingers right now....well before I started typing again I was. It's actually a clear marble. I bought a few dozen marbles at a flea market recently and put them in a small decorative vase. I enjoy most anything that takes me back before life in America utterly collapsed.
One particular minor study that I have done over the years was on the Shroud Of Turin. My conclusion....without any doubt...is that this was produced in medieval times. I say this because of the scientific evidence...and I say it because God certainly would not have given us an image of Jesus....for we would then worship the image.....and many in fact do today pertaining to the shroud.
One rare occasions a friend might ask me who my favorite Impressionist painter was. Early on....being a teenager.....and in need of maturity....I would say Cezanne....for I wanted to be different. Today....it has to be van Gogh. How can it be anything but van Gogh? This luminary of the art world did not always paint in light. The Potato Eaters is very dark. Van Gogh was seminary trained....and a Calvinist....and once preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ before his life changed. He once painted dark paintings but his life had light in it in at least the knowledge of the gospel. Later in life he painted in brilliant colors but there was then darkness in his life. He moved from darkness to light in his painting but from light to darkness in his life.
America has gone from light to darkness. The accepted gospel today is but a copy....it may be hard to tell the difference at times....but it has no value unto salvation. Have you at any time fallen as Paul on the road to Damascus under the intense light of Jesus Christ. Have you seen yourself for the first time.....before the beauty and the majesty and the glory of Jesus Christ.....and then elicited praises for the mercies that He offers....praises that continue to this day? If not then you must go out and seek this forgiveness and mercy and love and hope right now....for today is the day to come out of the darkness....and we know not what tomorrow brings!
Twenty years ago my wife and son and I had a friend who had lived in institutions of one kind or another for his whole life of seventy-nine years. He was the gentlest soul that I have ever met. His mental capabilities were that of a six year old. His smile was more beautiful to me than when seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. He would say "I'm praying for you" every single time that we parted after visiting. He once cried after looking at a picture of Jesus carrying His cross. He gave me a prayer card once with a picture of Jesus on it and it is the only time in the last three decades or so that I could look at an image of Jesus and not wince, for we are not to make images of our Lord and Savior.
So I look at this painting today.....and wince.....and wonder. To my left as I type...about four feet away hanging on the wall.....is a painting that my mother did many years ago. On occasion she would copy an oil painting of one of the masters at someone's request. She copied van Gogh's The Potato Eaters and I don't even know where that is today. Her finest was The Doctor by English painter Sir Luke Fildes that was impressive as it hung in a local pharmacy for many years. The painting to my left is a Renoir self portrait.
I'm holding a similar orb as in the Leonardo da Vinci in my fingers right now....well before I started typing again I was. It's actually a clear marble. I bought a few dozen marbles at a flea market recently and put them in a small decorative vase. I enjoy most anything that takes me back before life in America utterly collapsed.
One particular minor study that I have done over the years was on the Shroud Of Turin. My conclusion....without any doubt...is that this was produced in medieval times. I say this because of the scientific evidence...and I say it because God certainly would not have given us an image of Jesus....for we would then worship the image.....and many in fact do today pertaining to the shroud.
One rare occasions a friend might ask me who my favorite Impressionist painter was. Early on....being a teenager.....and in need of maturity....I would say Cezanne....for I wanted to be different. Today....it has to be van Gogh. How can it be anything but van Gogh? This luminary of the art world did not always paint in light. The Potato Eaters is very dark. Van Gogh was seminary trained....and a Calvinist....and once preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ before his life changed. He once painted dark paintings but his life had light in it in at least the knowledge of the gospel. Later in life he painted in brilliant colors but there was then darkness in his life. He moved from darkness to light in his painting but from light to darkness in his life.
America has gone from light to darkness. The accepted gospel today is but a copy....it may be hard to tell the difference at times....but it has no value unto salvation. Have you at any time fallen as Paul on the road to Damascus under the intense light of Jesus Christ. Have you seen yourself for the first time.....before the beauty and the majesty and the glory of Jesus Christ.....and then elicited praises for the mercies that He offers....praises that continue to this day? If not then you must go out and seek this forgiveness and mercy and love and hope right now....for today is the day to come out of the darkness....and we know not what tomorrow brings!
