Supplies used:
Golden Fluid Acrylics – Raw Umber, Teal, Vat Orange, Bone Black & Cad Yellow Medium Hue
Liquitex Heavy Gel, Gesso & Matte Medium
Golden Glazing Medium
Rembrandt Soft Pastel- Black
Shawn Petite Stencils – Moroccan Tile 3
Stamps – Stitch stamp from Ranger, Penny Black Script Stamp & coffee stain stamp
Hello friends,
Today I created this beautiful mixed media canvas – “Seek justice, love mercy & walk humbly with your God”. This has been something on my heart for some time.
The piece has so much color because my heart is captured by the amount of beauty and color we all bring to this world. We are beautiful, we are more beautiful together. We are all loved. We are all created by God. Some of the background papers that created the beautiful collage underneath this piece, are a part of the story as it unfolded for me. Capturing history of people through a very old newspaper article. A phrase that was part of a piece of paper from Shawn Petite’s collage pack that says ‘We are not perfect. We struggle. We are broken and blended. We are learning to love. We are finding the good. We are covered by grace. we are family.’ Even though you can’t see it in the final project, it is a part of how this process went together. I kept thinking as I was creating, embrace the color. Embrace the differences. Embrace the diversity. Embrace God’s children. There were some stitch stamps that I used that spoke to me about how the world appears to be unraveling. Our strings (our issues) are all hanging out. We need healed. There is a cracked affect to areas of the piece that speak to the brokenness that we are experiencing in our world. We are cracked, yet our light and color still shines through, sealed as part of who we were made to be.
I do not like conflict. I don’t like being attacked when I share an opinion or a different point of view. I confess that I do not handle standing in opposition to someone else. I would rather agree and love…
I am learning that this is not practical and it is not healthy. It is easier to stand back and do nothing. To stand up for something can often cost us everything. But perhaps, the ‘everything’ are things that need to go or need to be released.
This is a very broad topic and one that I am not sure how to even write about because it encompasses everything that is happening in our world with COVID19, relational conflict, racial discrimination, Broken relationships, broken communities, strained marriages and friendships. The list goes on and on, doesn’t it?
I have prayed, pondered, processed, avoided, ran, and turned my face away. I have wrestled. I have denied. I have tried to preserve myself so that I don’t get hurt. Does that resonate with you? Self-preservation is a powerful thing. There are boundaries, super important. There is self-care, equally, if not, more important. There is gossip – a devastating habit to practice. But where is the line between gossip, fact or fiction? At what point do we get involved? at what point to we stand up to injustice. How long do we allow people to be hurt? what do we do? what is our action?
That was a long intro to the concepts and truths I actually feel compelled to write and share about. Thank you for allowing me that.
Micah 6:8 –
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly[a] with your God.
What does the Lord require of you? Not, what do people require of you. Not, what does social media require you to do. What does the Lord require?
As I have pondered and processed and feebly attempted to resolve in my own humanity, I cannot. Jesus drew me back to the verse over and over these last 6 months or so. Slowly, very slowly, I turned the corner from ‘what do people require of me’ to – What does the Lord, my friend- my Savior require of me?
I must talk to Him. To bring everything to Him. To allow Him to filter out what is not pleasing to Him. What does not bring glory to Him. What does not lift up, edify or heal another person. Gossip does not heal. Violent protest do not heal (they also don’t really help the cause, regardless of what it is) Remaining silent also does not heal, or edify. Shouting accusation does not heal. Polarizing people does not heal. Hating God’s children, what a sad thing – does not heal. As I referenced in my previous blog – Beautiful, we are all created in His image. No matter the color of our skin, our country of origin, our history, our experiences & our religion or faith, HE loves us all. We are all God’s children. How it must grieve Him to see His children hurt their brothers and sisters so much. Heart breaking.
I am guilty. I have made bad decisions. I have lied. I have manipulated truth to protect myself. Haven’t we all? if we are honest with ourselves, we have. We all have a responsibility for our choices regardless of how justified we might feel in them.
Is there a time to stand against injustice? absolutely. What does the Lord require of us when we make a stand? to allow His heart to shine through our words, our position, our passion. The delivery is key. I believe in peaceful protests. I believe in justice for homicide, sexual abuse, and all other matter of evil in this world. I believe in fact checking. I believe in examining what we are standing for and approaching it with truth and balance. Sometimes, oftentimes, that seems nearly impossible. Are we to take a stand against these things and petition for justice, you better believe it. But how? what form will that take? Evil for evil is never effective and it is deadly. A policeman takes the life of a man and justice should come swiftly. That person needs to be held accountable for his crime. But, evil for evil says we can attack all policemen because THAT (and others) have snuffed the life out of another human being. But that is not justice. That is exchanging and justifying one evil for another.
That is merely one example. There are hundreds, if not thousands.
To me, to seek justice is to fight in ways that don’t return evil for evil. Ways that expose darkness with the heart intention of bringing healing and truth. Some will protest. Some will go to the Capital. Some will start petitions. Some will push for a new trial. Some will pray. Not everyone is called to do the same thing. Fight in the ways that you were made to fight. Stand up in ways that you were made to stand up. Not everyone is going to scream from the corner. Not everyone is going to post their opinions on social media. Not everyone is going to use their ‘voice’ in ways that people can see. But that doesn’t mean nothing is being done.
We can take a position of great power by listening, praying, by slowing done to examine our hearts, our intentions, our prejudice, our white privilege, our rutted thinking…Above all, we can love.
What does it mean to love mercy? as I have been sitting with these things for some time, I believe that it is to give the same as we have received. We have been lavished with mercy, not only from God but other people as well. Mercy can do what judgement cannot. In Luke 6:36 it says, ‘be merciful just as your father is merciful’. As I pondered this, I was struck, or rather strongly reminded of my need to seek Jesus first. Always first. The one who showed the greatest act of mercy can teach us how to be merciful. This is not to be confused with penalty or judgement. There should be consequences and a cost for a myriad of things. Often, justice is broken. Often, we do not witness the fitting and reasonable form of justice. However, we are responsible for how we react and respond.
As mentioned above, it is up to each human to decide what we are going to do with unresolved injustice. For me, right or wrong- sometimes, I must let go. I let go and I pray even more. It is much harder to do when the offense or injustice was against us personally, yes, this is truer than true. My best act of mercy is to examine my heart & talk to my Jesus about what I am to do about that thing. “Jesus, what do you want me to do?”
Even if God is not a part of your belief system, there are still ways to show mercy that are just human ‘right’. To show kindness. To not return evil for evil. To not hurt another human being in our quest of justice. We can extend love, we can establish a boundary that says ‘I will not allow this any longer’. Again, the forms it takes are unique and personal. We should never push that on another human being. The most distressing thing I witness especially on social media is opinion sharing that is met with hatred. It is like witnessing children crossing their arms and having a little tantrum in an adult body. It is an embarrassment to being an adult. I don’t believe we accomplish anything through attacking, not matter what the offense. We can agree to disagree. If that is not possible, sometimes, we are called to step away. To follow a new path. That is okay. Please understand that this topic is broad, huge actually, and I cannot possibly capture every scenario or experience or crime. However, I believe that we can all approach with respect, love and an intention to get to the truth, to convey the passion of the issue and hear the other person’s point of view without hatred, without slander, without lying and without acting like we are in primary school.
The last, ‘walk humbly with your God’. My life belongs to Jesus. That is my plumb line. That is where I must go for truth. I must wait for Him to speak. So, as a believer and a follower of God, I am learning to walk humbly with Him. For me, that particularly means being quiet. Talking and listening. Exchanging my heart for His heart. My perspective for His much larger one. His ways are higher than my ways. Walking humbly with Him is the safest place. In that place, there is peace. There is no striving. There is a cocoon of grace and love that fills me up and gives me what I need to approach, confront or face whatever is in front of me. It doesn’t make me weak, it makes me stronger than I could ever be on my own. It provides sharpness to my perspective and a precision to my action. Above all, it allows me to lavish the situation with love, grace, an open ear, an absence of defensiveness and a greater probability for making an impact in whatever situation.
I know this was long…it is a huge topic. I hope that there is some encouragement to be found here. No matter where you come from or what your faith base is, the concepts of seeking justice, loving mercy and walking humbly (with our God) are, or can be, universal.
This has only scratched the surface.
What are you struggling with? what are you trying to fight for? what to you need to let go of? where does your heart need healing about an offense where justice was not served? What does your heart need?
I know a friend, His name is Jesus. He is my answer.
You are loved. Be blessed my friends,
Beloved-Reborn
This is a beautiful work and it expresses beautiful meaning. Your words touched me, not because I agree or disagree, but because they are offered in a spirit of love and with an obvious desire to heal and be healing. In a world in which it feels like you are an enemy if you do not agree with someone’s opinion, I so appreciate your ability to make me want to listen and actually hear you rather than just assume a defensive posture and respond – if that even makes any sense at all. Public discourse has become so loud and divisive and demeaning, it is so nice to find a place where soft words and real acceptance are offered. Because you are right, we are all called to action in different ways – according to the different gifts and strengths we are given. And the world would be a much better place if more of us offered acceptance to people of good conscience in the place that they are, rather than demanding they be standing where we are, acting in the way we think is appropriate. Because shouting loud, strident, self-righteous judgements is not going to resolve the complicated, multi-faceted issues of our society and world. It’s going to take long conversations, painful self-examination, dawning self-awareness, and widespread cooperation to make progress.
Thank you Marguerite for your beautiful response. Kindness is key, isn’t it? So simple and yet so rare. I am grateful that we get the choice though 💛