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A lot of our art making is instinctive. What compels us to create is something inside that needs to get out. That is why the quality of our interior life is so important. If we are living righteously and God’s laws are constantly before us, then the imaginations of our heart will reflect that. If we are constantly learning from Scripture, even our unconscious will is being purified, and our dreams will be different from the dreams of the unregenerate person.

From Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts by Steve Turner.

Not a traditional crossword but lots of fun!

Self Portrait
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Learn more about Rubens:
Art Renewal Center
Wikipedia

The word Rubenesque came from Peter Paul Rubens.

Rubenesque
of a woman’s body, “rounded and plump,” 1913, of the type characteristic of the paintings of Flem. painter Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640).

(Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved June 22, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rubenesque)

Artists have no special protection [from evil]. In fact, because of their tendency to be curious about all forms of experience and their need to avoid rigid forms of thinking, they are probably more vulnerable to temptation. The standard protection kit offered to all Christians is the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of readiness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit and prayer (Ephesians 6). We can’t survive with the T-shirt of Sunday school memories and the baseball cap of personal vision.

(Italics mine)

From Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts by Steve Turner.

Bizarre combination? You bet! I just stumbled on the fact that the same author is writing screenplays for Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, both movies planned to be released in 2008.

Who would have the capacity to write both? Why, the author of Braveheart and We Were Soliders, of course! Oh, wait. . . that’s a bit of a bias against Atlas Shrugged, isn’t it?

Since I really enjoyed both books, I’ll just wait and see how things develop and keep an eye on Randall Wallace!

(How in the world to do you fit a bazillion-page book into movie length? Guess that’s a question for another day.)

Related products:
Atlas Shrugged
The Screwtape Letters
Braveheart
We Were Soldiers

Every time I think of the Screwtape Letters, I think of John Cleese reading the book. The recording is fabulous if you can find it; it appears to be out of print.

. . . and then. . . when I think of John Cleese, I think of his documentary Wine for the Confused, which I also highly recommend.

The train of thought stops here . . . for now.

“Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness.”

George Orwell was the pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950). His books include Animal Farm and 1984.

Related products:
Books by and about George Orwell

Related product(s):
Put Down the Duckie

Thousands more free online cryptograms at Cryptograms.org.

The Annunciation, one of my favorite “annunciations” and one of my favorite paintings by this artist.

I have been a fan of paper-based sudoku for a long time, but I’ve always been frustrated with the computer versions because you have to switch back and forth between the number keys and a mouse. I was really pleased to discover jigsawdoku, because it’s exclusively mouse-based and just as much fun as the original.