I’ve been picking a word or phrase for each day of Lent, and am gathering a lovely collection.
This week I was thinking of some RE words, Renew, rebuild, restoration and today my word is redemption.It is an old word, a biblical one, and a great word for Lent, because we think of Jesus as the Redeemer.
What does it mean to be redeemed?
Creating art always teaches me and I had a good lesson in redemption recently. I had painted a picture, trying to depict shadows, and had chosen to paint a pot of flowers. It wasn’t too bad for a quick piece, and I thought my shadowing was ok.
Flower Pot
I decided to add some words. And wouldn’t you know it, all of a sudden I saw a black smear on the bottom of the page. I tried to fix it. And then another splotch. I couldn’t figure it out.
Until I realized that the ruler I had just used to draw lines for my lettering was smeared with ink as well. On further investigation the cup where I store my pens and rulers had a pen leak out leaving a pool of rich dark ink.
It took me a while to clean it all up, what a mess.
And then I looked at my smeared painting and was quite ready to throw it out. But I remembered something I often tell my grandchildren in our art times together – that mistakes can be fixed. They can be opportunities to create something better. This is redemption.
And so with some added paint, and some darker shading, I think my shading improved a lot. A good art lesson for me.
Do Everything in Love – artwork redeemed
I see a lot of people who are tempted to give up. Broken lives, sad stories. It is so important to remind ourselves that we are Gods beloved creation and that redemption is Gods specialty. Is there anything too hard for God?
I’m also reminded that in our broken world, there are some things that will not be fixed until we reach our heavenly home, where our bodies will be new and whole. Perfect redemption.
So I am encouraged to never give up. To remember God never never gives up on me.
We can look for possibilities and solutions through the lens of hope and imagination. To see things as God sees, to believe in, to restore. To see the gifts even in our mistakes and failures for we can learn from them. This is redemption.
