The Lion and the Lamb

We organised a creative retreat yesterday on Silent Saturday for a group of creatives. Our facilitators, Estelle and Francesca led us in a series of reflective and prophetic activities through the entire afternoon.

One of them was blindfold painting. I had a vision of placing my entire hand on the paper plate where I had poured out five colours I liked, then sweeping my hand across the canvas. And I heard Him say, "Dance with me."

So I stood up and did just that! 

It was so much fun swaying along to the music playing in the background, not thinking about what the result would be. Such a stark contrast to my first experience in blindfold painting a few years ago, where I had been so worried about how the painting would turn out and didn't enjoy the process at all.

When I sensed that it was enough, I stopped and sat down. Then I heard Him say, "Look at your hand." So against Estelle's instructions (haha!) I took off my blindfold and looked at my hand.

First, I saw the golden heart shape. Then I realised there's a hole in it and immediately thought of Jesus' glory and His love for us displayed through His nail-pierced hands. What a beautiful reminder to continue reflecting on all that He had done for us on Good Friday the day before this.

When I looked at the painting on the canvas in landscape orientation, which was how I had painted it, I didn't see much in it. So I turned it around to portrait view.

I was struck by how the darker colours at the bottom rose up to the bright orange at the top, much like flames but also reminding me of beauty from ashes. 

Later, one of the participants at my table suggested that I should look at it from afar. That's when I saw the lion!

If you can't see where it is, the following comparison may help. During a recent trip to Jeju, Korea, I had been struck by one of the many lion paintings at the hotel where we stayed (Leo Hotel, and of course Leo means Lion in Greek!)

The lion in my painting is facing the same direction as the Jeju lion but has a more benevolent expression.

As I reflected on all this today, Resurrection Sunday, I'm amazed at how He led me to express the Easter message in this 2-in-1 painting. 

Firstly, the painted nail-pierced hand points to the lamb led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7) and who was slain (Revelation 5:6). 

Then on the third day, He rose from the grave and now He is the lion of Judah who sits upon the throne in heaven (Revelation 5:5,7), as symbolised by the lion on the canvas.

And both the hand and the canvas were painted on at the same time, through one single process. That's just like how the Lion and the Lamb are one, and both are found in the same One, Jesus.

Furthermore, the process of letting go and allowing the Holy Spirit to direct the entire painting process is a lesson in learning to trust in God even in the midst of circumstances that are beyond our control. 

I'm not a skilled painter and there's no way I could have painted a lion from scratch on my own. But when I allowed Him to paint through me, this was the incredible outcome!

Jesus, the triumphant King, has already overcome the world. That's why we can have peace even though there will be trouble (John 16:33). And when we invite the Holy Spirit to take control, the same power that resurrected Christ is in at work in us (Ephesians 3:20) to overcome all things!

“Blessing and honor and glory and power

Be to Him who sits on the throne,

And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

Revelation 5:13

See my previous entry with reflections for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

P.S. it's been 3 days and this morning I happened to glance at the painting from the breakfast table. The sunlight revealed the shiny crown on the lion's head! Can you see it too? Indeed, He is our Risen King!!

Beauty and the Beast - arts and ethics

Not that I'm a big fan of Disney, but this article somehow got me thinking: Beauty and the Beast to feature first 'exclusively gay moment' in a Disney movie and I don't have to be a prophet to predict that there's going to be a petition soon to ban or raise the rating (currently PG) of the movie here and/or a call to boycott it.

After all, it's a mean blow to try and brainwash our impressionable kids with the gay agenda using an innocent fairy tale movie. Or is it? Are the artists on the opposite side the only ones guilty of manipulating the audience by subtly infiltrating works that are marketed as harmless frivolity with insinuating values and beliefs?

Honestly, how many times have we pretended to invite friends to a performance by XXX (insert celebrity's name) knowing full well that they will be bombarded with the gospel? What about the much-loved Veggietales which claims to promote 'Sunday Morning Values' with 'Saturday Morning Fun'? We play these videos over and over again to teach (some would say indoctrinate) our children the values and beliefs which we feel they should have.

Pot calling the kettle black, perhaps? Should we therefore take a step back and allow the other side to speak? Ok, I'm playing devil's advocate here but don't stone me yet for this is purely for the sake of discussion - comments are most welcome!

I have to put a caveat though - as a parent, I would still advise those with young children who are not yet mature enough to discern to put off watching the movie. And those with older ones, please do engage with them before and after watching and help them to process what they see. Other than gay identity, there are many other issues which I can think of for you to analyse and evaluate together, eg anger management, power and control, abusive relationships, feminism, chivalry vs chauvinism. So yes, it's fine to enjoy a bit of Disney entertainment, but keep your eyes open for opportunities to chat with your older kids too!