I ran across my teenage daughter’s (Jessica, 18) art book today. She had some beautiful sketches in it. One is just a beginning, an outline of throngs of people facing the rising sun. Have you ever seen those pictures of people or scenes made up entirely of very small words? My parents have a large portrait of Jesus that’s made up of only of the words of the New Testament, printed VERY small and running sideways across the whole canvas, from Matthew to Revelation. The words are bold or not, placed close together or spread apart, to create shades of light and give depth. And that’s all there is, just words. But when you stand back, it’s a beautiful portrait.

My daughter’s sketch starts out like that, just made up of phrases like “For God so Loved,” and “I love you,” and “All the peoples of the Earth” just running end to end. The sketch is hardly begun, then she gave up (you need high-tech printers to arrange text in the right way). So she ended it. But the pavement like a wide road that leads to the rising sun is made up of the following words she wrote (she doesn’t know I saw them; but she left it out on the floor, so its fair game!):

“We can only imagine what it will be like. Jesus, I can’t wait until that day when I can be in your presence forevermore. What will it be like? I want to dance to the choir singing praise to you. I want to dance in heaven for you. I wan to sing, raising up my voice with the thousands of others, all in glory to you. How beautiful it will be, the unification of all peoples, cultures, backgrounds, singing one song to one God in perfect unison. It will turn out right in the end. [What good theology my daughter has!] I hope I can be a help here so that as many people can be in that choir with me. You are just, loving, and merciful. Will all humans from all times be there? I pray so. Let me always glorify you in what I say and do and think and love… I pray that everyone will se your love in me, especially my family.”

Tom