Gandhi said, “I am a Christian. I am a Jew. I am a Muslim. I am a Hindu.” I know what he means. Two days ago a woman told me, “I am an atheist.” I said, “I know what you mean. In many ways I am too.” Sometimes our categories fail in categorizing us accurately. But categories almost never fail in making us categorical when we cling to them to tightly. Own the original drawing. Buy a print of this... Read more
This is a commissioned piece I just completed this evening. It is an acrylic and ink on canvas, 24″x36″ (61cm x 92cm). The person who commissioned it asked me to paint anything that I wanted. Immediately this image came to mind for my friend. I live where there are lots of birches. They are incredibly beautiful. Even in the darkness they seem to shed light. They endure all kinds of trials and tribulations but still grow with tenacity and a... Read more
Join my free newsletter and you will get a permanent 25% off on all my artwork! Once you sign up for the free newsletter, you will get an email later with the free coupon code for my online gallery full of originals and prints of my cartoons, as well as my Sophia series, such as the one below called “Fearless” (the original has already sold). Scroll down to read my comments below the image. Some of the most fearless people I... Read more
Here’s an older cartoon that’s a little light-hearted today. In seminary I was instructed to not get too close to the members of my congregation. I broke that rule the day I started. Get my book full of cartoons like this one from amazon.com, amazon.ca, amazon.de. Read more
I am listening to music today while painting a commissioned piece. “Elysium“, the theme song by Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard, and Klaus Badelt from the film “Gladiator“… a very moving piece, started playing. At one point in the music the theme rises and it is just so overwhelmingly beautiful. I wondered how the members of the orchestra felt the very first time they played it together. Imagine the feeling! You are being introduced to a brand new piece the conductor... Read more
Sometimes I just can’t articulate. But then That Which Cannot Be Named is beyond articulation. Words always skirt what they point toward. They are never dead on. But words are all we have if we care to try to communicate the Love the overflows our hearts… … when it does. Read more
A man comes up to the pastor (P) after the service. He is a visitor (V). He says: V: Pastor, can I speak with you? P: Sure! What’s up? V: I really enjoyed the service. I heard about the music and your teaching. I’d love to come here, but I feel like I need to run something past you. P: What’s that? V: Well… I’m gay. P: OH! V: I’m not sure how you feel about that or if this... Read more
There is such at thing as being a stick-in-the-mud who stubbornly resists change. Some churches reflect this. But there are those who need to experience constant change. They live in a perpetual state of narrowly escaping boredom. Some churches reflect this. If you are spiritually content then you won’t crave novelty. If you don’t crave novelty then things will be much simpler. Some churches reflect this. Get my book full of cartoons that address issues like this one from amazon.com,... Read more
Welcome to another Freebie Friay! Today I am giving away a print of my very popular cartoon from this week, The New Jesus. It was drawn as a way to participate in Rachel Held Evans’ the Mark Driscoll story, concerning which he has since issued a kind of apology. And my friend Hemant Mehta of Friendly Atheist shared my cartoon on his blog! The cartoon went all over the internet, being tweeted tons of times as well as shared on... Read more
consciousness is the first step towards emancipation (Fairclough) Every institution is concerned with social control. The means of this control is a mixture of these two: coercion and consent. Either the institution exerts its agenda by force or it legitimizes its agenda by getting the consent of the people. This consent is achieved by employing language in a strategic way. An institution, sometimes unconsciously, exerts power by projecting its beliefs and practices as “common-sense”. This is ideology. Here is an example... Read more
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