... firsthand the light of Christ in his life. Christ was born anew in Handel's heart as Handel experienced the peace that passes understanding. Handel's Messiah is an integral part of this season as scripture comes alive through music and the arts. Thomas Kinkade, hailed as the "Painter of Light," is a committed Christian who gives hope and inspiration through his art: He understands the power of light to transform our world, especially candlelight. He explains that of all the colors of light, the warmest is ...
... of years, is it any wonder that when just two or three (or maybe four) generations of families gather together for a “picture perfect” Christmas, that there aren’t more merry-hairy-meltdowns? Less Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom from Want” or Thomas Kinkade’s “Hometown Christmas Memories -More Picasso’s “Guernica.” Dealing with the stress of “relativity” is the subject of a U-Tube video put out for the holidays. The video both pokes fun, and pokes in the eye, the “blessing” that is ...
... that overcame obstacles and negatives. You might even call Christians Star-Crossed Lovers: Lovers who bring together the Star of Bethlehem and the Cross of Golgotha. Renaissance artists loved to paint Jesus’ nativity. They didn’t do “cute” as well as Thomas Kinkade, but they could get cute in their own way. One of their favorite vignettes was the “Annunciation of Jesus’ Birth” to Mary by the angel Gabriel. In most depictions Mary kneels in humility and obedience before a winged angel glowing ...
... the rest of our humdrum hours. It is for that reason that traditions latch onto us. They can become for us reminders of a moment in the past when things seemed so right in our world: a Currier & Ives Christmas, for instance, or an illuminated Thomas Kinkade painting glowing with just the right moment of sunset perfection outside and the warmth of faith and family shining through the windows of a still life home. G. K. Chesterton called tradition "the democracy of the dead." He said that when we fell in love ...
