Art

Big Picture

July 16, 2021 - By Natalie Buske Thomas

Watch me paint “Predator and Prey Alike” in 2 minutes (time lapse)

Inside this big picture, there are many smaller pictures. Each predator and prey pair shows how the natural world operates. Should that not include humankind? Of course it does. But we must not lose heart or surrender to the fate of defenseless prey.

“There are times when it seems the predators always win, but that’s not true. There is a time and season for everything. When we get discouraged, perhaps we can think about the beauty of God’s beasts, fowl, and fishes. His divine plan is mysterious, and sometimes painful…But there’s always a larger picture, and we are part of it. We are not forgotten. Not unwelcome. We are loved.”

-from book “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by my Christian Faith” by artist Natalie Buske Thomas

As our world continues to be a chaotic scene, may we not be so distracted by the many battles, that we don’t see the big picture, the larger scene. It’s hard to see the forest, the mountain ridge, the sea, the green landscape, or the sky when battles rage. But if we step back and look at this world as a whole, we will see that our home is a beautiful place to be.

Not everyone is “bad”, and not everyone is “good”. Most of us are just trying to muddle through, learning how to live and love the best that we can. No matter how much destruction we see, we can focus on creation. No matter how much malice we see, we can focus on love. No matter how many enemies we see, we can focus on friends.

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