The Clallery

  This artwork is accompanied by a Bible passage for re-orienting our hearts towards God’s Kingdom when viewing the hatched Easter egg surrounded by palm leaves as a symbol of victory in Christ. You are invited to open your Bible or the paper scroll inside and read the passage "1 Peter 1:3–12". 1 Peter 1:3–12 (The Message): "3-5 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole. 6-7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your...

Indeed, Abraham’s descendants scattered worldwide, especially after the diaspora of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC when the Neo-Assyrian Empire conquered it. They were as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore scattering all over the continents. Even with modern DNA technology, it is very challenging to trace the numerous assimilated descendants of the ten tribes across the globe. “15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore . Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:17-18)

 

Whether a community welcomes colonization has very much to do with the original culture of the people within the community. The British once colonized Hong Kong and Canada. On the spectrum of welcoming colonization, Hong Kong was more on the positive side than Canada. This might be culturally related. Most Chinese prefer their children to receive education, and the ancient Chinese schooling system was very rigid, with parental corporal punishment on children as a norm, and rigorous Chinese traditional examination systems already implemented. Therefore, when the British came to Hong Kong to establish a Western education system, the Chinese were willing to send their children to study in the schools founded by the British. The parents learned the Western way of raising children, gradually reducing parental dictatorship and corporal punishment of children. On the other hand, the indigenous children in North America were mostly born and raised in rural areas, and their parents were free-go...

  God’s grace for us is between our time of “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19b), so we “repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15b). Through Jesus we can be forgiven and set free from the bondage of sins: soar high under God’s love with a bird’s-eye view to survey the landscapes of our hearts that have developed over time, prayerfully reorient our journeys of “let go and let God” (cf. Ephesians 3:20) in which our beings are to be transformed, then our relationship with God and people will be renewed, and our doings will be manifested organically, being filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22-23).

 

  "For to us a child is born,     to us a son is given,     and the government will be on His shoulders. And he will be called     Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,     Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  (Isaiah 9:6)

 ‘Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is His name. His mercy extends to those who fear Him..."’ (Luke 1:46-55) Through Jesus comes “Joy to the world”: “Let Earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room.” If everyone receives Jesus as the King and has room for Him, then people will walk in the Light – “Global Magnificat” in Christ the Saviour!

  When I was reading Daniel’s prayer from the book of Daniel chapter 9, these phrases stood out to me: “…understood from the Scriptures … Lord, forgive... praying, confessing my sin… for his holy hill… in prayer, Gabriel… instructed me…, ‘Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding…”.  I reflect as I paint. Being a Christian often feels like living in exile among various cultures, political perspectives, and social influences, which might diverge from God’s way. May our intimate relationships with God thrive like Daniel: to understand God’s word, to confess our sins for His forgiveness, to be sanctified, to perceive insight and understanding of God’s revelation, and to respond based on God’s desire.