Banner Art & Credit

Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. What do these mysterious attributes have to do with this blog, or with your humble blogger? Well, if a picture is worth a thousand words, that message is all spelled out for you in the YIMCatholic banner image you see above.

Yes, Carravagio is hard to top, but now you can see some of the tangible, and intangible, reasons why I am personally Catholic. You’ll find more detail on the reasons if you wander over to the Tag Cloud up yonder under the banner . But if you don’t want to be left guessing, what follows are a few leads for you to follow up on, referencing the banner image above, moving from left to right.

It all started when I married a Catholic, but sat in the pews for 18 years, seemingly unbowed, and unmoved. But the light, see, was still shining down on me, patiently waiting for me to wake up from my slumber. The stiff necked, pharisaical, know-it-all was about to be schooled.

I bought some books, and then built some stairs, and finally, I worked on my car. I met some great Catholics, some officially saints, and some not. You can see them there along the stairs built by yours truly, the neophyte carpenter. The main players in this little unfolding drama are as follows.

First, there was the stack of books I bought, see them on the hood of the ‘Stang? That’s where I met the guy with the wicked curve ball, Blaise Pascal. After he struck me out (swinging!), I met the author of the second most published book in the world, Thomas à Kempis. I had never even heard of it, by the way. Then, I bounced off these two and into Thomas Merton (that’s him goofing off in his cap and gown), who took the gloves off. Merton introduced me to the Little Flower, who you see decked out as the blogs’ Patron Saint, Joan of Arc.

Not to be left out in the influence department, is St. Teresa of Avila, informally dubbed “Big Terry” around these parts. She had a sense of humor, see, and I think she appreciates that moniker. Directly across from her, looking dapper in his chair, is the former Premier of China, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, who left “the World” and became a Benedictine monk and priest, and pointed out the universal appeal of Catholicism to me, with a little help from his friends. By the time I met Dom Lou, I was pretty familiar with G.K. Chesterton. And did I mention I want to become fully human? That’s where DaVinci comes in.

Each one of these folks helped me climb those stairs and lift the latch on the gate that led into the fold of Our Lord and King, who I promised would always be prominently featured in the banner. Because He called me, and I serve at His pleasure. And by His side is the Queen of Heaven, also known as the Terror of Hell.

So that is the story of the banner art in a nutshell. Full credit for putting it all together goes to Lisa over at Lisa Julia Photography, LLC. I may know how to rebuild an engine in the ‘Stang, but I don’t know diddly squat about making a beautiful banner like this one. I supplied the raw materials and she supplied the skills and artistry that made it all come together.

The two images of St. Peter’s Basilica on the left side of the banner, were photographed by Lisa and are from her own personal collection. The photographs of the Mustang and the staircase were taken by an amateur (me); the rest of the images are from the Public Domain.

And now you know why Marc Barnes has the second coolest looking banner here at Patheos.