Breathing in Christmas

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about Christmas in this new home, well down under my birth land. Christmas is not the same Nordic/Germanic/Victorian routine and after a year here, I’ve come to be delighted to have such a chance to see it new.  Suddenly, the reality of incarnation has pounded me on the head. Christmas is God not just with us, but God inside us. At the birth, it didn’t make sense. As Jesus grew, it made some kind of sense if we could wrap our heads around Jesus being God and human at the same time. Lots of theologians are still not sure about that one. But when Jesus’ human life ended and Pentecost arrived, it made sense. Now, for the first time in my short life on earth, I can put together incarnation and this moment. Divine Mystery. Inside. Us. By the reality of Holy Spirit. 

Jesus was the human model for who we are called to be, not in behaviours, but a model for ways of seeing and challenging. We need to change from “what would Jesus do?” to “what would Jesus ask?” And instead of processing that question in our heads, we process that question in our hearts and our guts (where a good half of our neurons are anyway). We let Spirit inside of us, God with/inside, gives us the courage to challenge. Christmas is not just all the baby stories. Christmas is about connecting in real time. Eternity and humanity in the same place. No wonder that what we most want this time of year is to be together with people. (Duh). Connecting is what the whole thing is about. Connecting and connecting with purpose.

Before I knew how to describe any of this stuff, I was experiencing it.  I give you a pen & ink drawing I did when I was learning art at Uni back in the 1970s and then a poem I did when I’d had my spiritual awakening in the 1980s. I still feel the same.

Breathe with me.

See with me.

(through your other eyes)

(through those other lungs)

 

Feel the musty mystery cool

move

through,

 

untouchable

(having touched much).

 

Know with me the

mystery place deep,

eternity cooled,

calm,

 

now warm

(having been touched).

Please contact me if you would like prints. The following formats are available. All prints on paper are sold on ivory mounting board. Frames may be ordered. Prints on canvas are stretched on wood.

Art Prints: Art Prints are created with laser printers onto quality wood pulp art paper.

Gallery Poster: Gallery Poster is a typical art gallery format with laser printer on poster paper, supplied rolled in a tube.

Giclee Prints: Giclee Prints are inkjet sprayed onto quality cotton rag paper. They’re known for their vibrant colours, fine details, and archival quality. The term "giclee" comes from the French word meaning "to spray," referring to the precise inkjet spraying process used in their production. They’re guaranteed to last at least 100 years (though no one’s been alive long enough since development to know…)

Embellished Giclee Prints: Embellished Giclee Prints are customised by me adding details, textures, or hand-drawn elements to make each cotton paper print unique. The result is a print that combines the advantages of digital printing with a personal touch.

Giclee Prints on Canvas: Giclee Prints are inkjet sprayed onto artist canvas material. This gives the print a texture and appearance similar to a traditional painting on canvas so that they resemble original paintings.

Embellished Giclee Prints on Canvas: Embellished Giclee Prints on Canvas are customised by me adding details, textures, or hand-painted elements to make each print unique. Embellishments added on top of canvas give the print a more three-dimensional painterly effect.