beautiful stained glass

Need a change from all the floods, wind & mayhem in the news ?
then click on this link and enjoy a whole series of beautiful, innovative, contemporary stained glass :

         www.blountstainedglass.co.uk       

St Raphael Window 

Epiphany

"In the beginning was the Word...the Word was the true light that enlightens all humankind... John 1 v 1-18

Maybe one year I will be inspired to paint the Maji daring to follow the star... however, some years ago I followed my 'star' / vision / intuition: to try and communicate the beginning of John's Gospel : his poetic Prologue... and over the years I have painted several versions, hoping each time to go more deeply into this mystery.

click this link for my website: www.janetdriver.co.uk

One Christmas I asked : If Christ were born these days, where would we be most likely to find him ?  Of course I could have painted any baby, anywhere, for surely each one of us reveals a glimpse of God's likeness in some way or another? But at the time the TV news was full of the Sudan refugee crisis, and showing starving mothers & young children flooding into refugee camps, and in order to pray for them I began drawing ... and decided to paint a Madonna & Child based  on these images, as a prayer painting.  I share this painting here

in the hope that within our darkest night Christ comes among us in some hidden way.

Middle Eastern Nativity Carol

I have just watched and listened to this beautiful carol from the Advent Calendar on
 Embrace the Middle East website... 

click this link: http://www.embraceme.org/8-dec 

and listen to the Byzantine Nativity, whilst watching photos and ancient icons
from Egypt / Sinai / Bethlehem and Syria.

I found this very moving, especially after all the news from Syria
and after reading "Once Upon a Country " by Sari Nusseibeh

Waiting...awaiting... ?

What a contrast!  All the news reports of "Cyber Monday" and the great buying spree ... and I was just gathering thoughts together about "Waiting... awaiting... "  and RS Thomas: "the meaning is in the waiting..."

What kind of Advent painting to begin?  ...mulling it over whilst cleaning the bathroom...hoovering...
 possibly the profile of a pregnant woman ?
 For me that would symbolize new life, hope, an expectant waiting...
...a long term awaiting...
for what ?  what are we really waiting and hoping for in our lives ?
...in our society ?
...in the world ?

"What am I expecting? "... this painting has just come through on a blog link:
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/art/

and Ive just come across an Advent Calendar  about people in the Middle East:  http://www.embraceme.org/advent-calendar

Retrospective on All Saints Day... Ive just found this beautiful poem:  stmarysnews.wordpress.com
and scroll down to All Saints
among other interesting things en route !

A Stir Up Sunday Christmas Cake for a nearby church has got me thinking life at the moment is full of a wide mix of ingredients:  wet towels hanging ever wetter on the washing line as the rain sleets down; yesterday's glorious sunshine golden autumnal trees & intriguing craft stalls; lovely silence group; a painting slowly growing layer on layer: deep reds & purples and brilliant orange-red dawn, looking forward to Easter; but in early morning bumper to bumper traffic crawling slowly downhill, dawn sunshine lights up a vista of buildings through the mist & thinking of the Philippines disaster, I suddenly imagined all these buildings flattened & a surge of flood water 5 m above high tide pouring up river, submerging the cars below.. how would we ever cope?  Then I read about the way climate warming has been miscalculated, leaving out temperature rises in the Arctic, leaving decision makers thinking it can be ignored as it seems to be going away .http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exposed-the-myth-of-the-global-warming-pause-8945607.html

Calm after the Storm

It feels quite odd after all that raging wind to see blue skies and feel the warmth of the sun.

Looking through the news pictures of fallen trees & huge waves & hearing of lives suddenly lost, it seems we have been incredibly fortunate not to live just a few miles further north. Even just down the road a small tree snapped in half and several trees were still leaning brokenly onto one another. Everyone has their own story, but I was surprised how critical some comments were of those working away to get trees safely down & restore power lines tangled up in their branches. I do feel for those who had to close down their shops & cafes, and elderly people all waiting for power to be restored, but how can something like this just have a quick fix ?
All these storms around the world in recent years seem to be a real wake up call to tackle climate change. 
I read an interview with Bill McKibben, climate change campaigner : "My worst fear is that human beings wont put up a real fight against climate change. But I hope that we'll fight..." read more at www.churchtimes.co.uk   click on Features / Interviews/...