Fredrick Douglass
Category: Men
George Washington
“The harder the conflict , the greater the triumph”
George Washington
This is one of my early drawings – soft pencil on watercolor paper. What strikes me about this man is his suffering and his humility. He was in constant pain, I read somewhere because of his ill fitting false teeth, And yet even in the pain he did incredible feats, crossing the Delaware, leading countless battles, suffering great loss of loved ones, becoming the first president of a new country, he had tremendous responsibility and courage, all with an equivalent of a sixth grade education and field training. His father died when he was young leaving most of what he had to Washington’s older half brothers. Though the cards were stacked against him he rose agains and again, not because of hand outs but because of freedom to do so because of desire and resolve. consistently he made decisions that were unlike the expectation of those around him, turning down the request to be king and freeing the slaves he owned was not the popular thing to do, He didn’t do what was popular but what was right, he pushed through pain, he led without degree and he survived without wealth. It is to this man and his unlikely character we owe so much as Americans. Anyone read a good biography I would love to find one on his life?
“ if freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we gmay be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
George Washington
Rabbi
Passover is fast approaching. I thought it appropriate to display a Rabbi studying Torah. This is one of my favorite pictures that I have drawn, I struggled a lot with it so it reminds me not to give up. But that’s not why it’s my favorite. I can’t tell you the name of the Rabbi I just liked the beauty of a man advanced in age so intensely immersed in Gods words.
I was reading about Mary pouring her alabaster box full of perfume over Jesus only 2 days before Passover, two days before he was crucified. Did she know? Did she know he would soon become the Passover?How could she? Her act was an act of faith because she didn’t know, even the disciples were confused about this mystery. We read Gods word to know Him better, but do we act in faith even when we don’t fully understand those words or who He truly is? perhaps we read to know ourselves better, what we look like, what we believe…perhaps we read that we might know how to act in faith. Perhaps this Rabbi isn’t studying Gods word at all, but in his old age simply looking into a mirror, a true act of faith indeed.
Nelson Mendala
Nelson Mendela what a wise man!
“It is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.”
“Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.”
“I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.”
“A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favour. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens.”
The Chosen People
“ And I shall delight in Thy commandments, which I love.”
Psalm 119:48
American citizens and especially the church ought to love , honor and protect the laws and words of God for it was by them and with them that this countries foundations were laid, freedoms were defined and constitution was constructed, it is by them and through them we come to know God, it is by them and through them God has revealed messiah and it is by them and with them peoples are revived, comforted and gain understanding.
If we do not know them we will most surely misinterpret them and misunderstand the creators heart for humankind.
“The law of the lord is perfect , Restoring the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure; making wise the simple the precepts of the Lord are right; rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes” psalm 19:48
Winston Churchill
“Let men of science and learning expound their knowledge and prize and probe with their research every detail of the records which have been preserved to us from those dim ages. All they will do is fortify the grand simplicity and essential accuracy of the recorded truths which have lighted so far the pilgrimage of men.”
Winston Churchill
Vincent Van Gogh
Only when I fall do I get up again.”
– Vincent Van Gogh
I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God’s help I shall succeed.”
– Vincent Van Gogh
I’m such a nobody.”
– Vincent Van Gogh
I would rather die of passion than of boredom.”
– Vincent Van Gogh
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? ”
– Vincent Van Gogh
I try more and more to be myself, caring relatively little whether people approve or disapprove. ”
– Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh. An unloved man in his life in every way. No one wanted his paintings , no one wanted his company and no one wanted his perspective on life. You might not know that he studied theology, but was kicked out of church for preaching the Bible too literally, he failed at everything he tried to do, and as far as he knew even his paintings were a failure. He only sold one small painting in his lifetime, because people didn’t like his original and unique style of brushwork, he painted because it was all he could do. He only knew rejection but still he painted, still he gave the world over 800 pieces of artwork, not because they made him rich or because they pleased others. Man was made to work for a purpose and if the only work you can do is paint then paint, if it’s to teach, teach if it’s to be a parent be the best parent you can, if it’s to lead then lead well, if it’s to speak speak truth. Whatever you can do, do it with all your strength regardless if others accept it – because you never know the impact your work will have on the world. We are made with eternity in our hearts and I think there’s something deep inside each of us that knows the work we do on earth will outlast us if we do it with all our heart.
The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. ”
– Vincent Van Gogh
If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced. ”
– Vincent Van Gogh
Johnny Cash
Mr. Frankyl
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Victor Frankl
Viktor Frankl survived a nazi concentration camp, though his mother father and wife did not. He determined as a neurologist, psychiatrist and philosopher that attitude is the last of the human freedoms and it cannot be taken from a man when everything else can be and for him as an Austrian Jewish man everything was taken. how can We not admire this man, who took particular interest in studying depression and suicide, set up counseling centers and headed a female suicide prevention program seeking to decrease teen suicide. After seeing his family murdered and suffered in a concentration camp he somehow rose from the ashes returned to Vienna and became head of the neurological department publishing the well known book, “man’s search for meaning.” Our lives are weighed down every day with things we cannot change or control and I think the temptation is to crumble beneath this reality. Unless we change our approach. Viktor is proof that humanity has the inborn ability to be resilient. His life is evidence of an inner dimension of strength that permeates our DNA and transcends the darkness in the world. He says this, “what is to give light must endure burning.” Not only is Viktor himself evidence of resiliency in mankind, but of reality that suffering produces something far beyond anything we can produce synthetically, suffering is the organic way life emerges. And even in suffering we have a choice in how we will respond; even in our darkest hour there is a shred of freedom and hope and light.
C.S. Lewis
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”
― C.S. Lewis
Born in Ireland in 1899 Lewis was a scholar an author and most of all he was a man of strong Christian faith. You probably know his most beloved children’s books the chronicles of Narnia, but did you know he wrote over 30 other books? That he held degrees from Oxford and Cambridge, that the author of the Hobbit, J.R. Tolkien, was one of his best friends and that as a child C.S. Lewis was at an atheist? Lewis lost his mother at a young age and didn’t marry until his old age and then lost his wife a few short years later. Yet through all of these challenges Lewis was able to not only speak to his generation of love, joy, faith and truth but to our generation! Recently I read a book by Lewis entitled the “problem of Pain” it’s a short book and quite theological but I would highly recommend it to any who have wrestled with this question: how can God be all good and all powerful?
C.S. Lewis – “God whispers in our pleasures, but shouts in our pain.”
The Art Place 