Ways of Seeing
Just as there are many ways of being in a place, there are also many ways of seeing. To be and to see as Christ, we lessen our focus on the immediacy of our personal circumstance. To be and to see as Christ, we empty our minds into our hearts and we wait. In time, in God’s time, we experience a displacement at the center. The vastness of the interior indwelling God that we encounter begins its dynamic interaction with our waking consciousness. And our own purpose, our contribution to the life and work of the world, becomes clear.
-Mel Ahlborn

On View: Communion, Oil on linen, 1998, by Camilla Brunschwyler Armstrong

Rarely Seen Unless Sought
Observe a fine artist as she composes a work of art and you will witness an intimate rhythm rarely seen unless sought. The fine artist has trained himself over time to allow for the cycle of inspiration and pause; she is comfortable with its tendency to progress and return. This preliminary work is rich with discovery as the artist waits on a resonance between the original pulse of inspiration and the emerging work of art. During this essential phase of creation, the strength of the composition may diminish and when this happens, when the fine artist loses sight of the reason why he began the work in the first place, he returns to the cycles of progress and return, and waits.
-Mel Ahlborn

On View: Communion, Oil on linen, by Brie Dodson

Title: The Holy Silence (Byzantine-style icon)
Medium: Egg tempera and gold leaf on gessoed board
Size: 11" x 14" x one inch thick
Date Created: 2006

Statement: This type of icon, also known as "The Silence of God," is a symbolic depiction of Christ as an eternally youthful angel - or even, as in this example, a female angel. The image was developed in 18th and 19th century Russia, and is associated with the Prayer of the Heart (the Jesus Prayer).

The upturned hands are folded in a prayerful gesture of receptive silence, and the gaze turned to the side in contemplation. An 8-pointed star in the halo indicates divinity.

- Betsy Porter

Eyes of Faith
If you seek faith, watch the table.

-Mel Ahlborn

On View: The Gifts, Photograph, by Nancy Carow