Happiness comes in on tiptoe

The parable of talent had been on my mind this week when thinking about being thirty: that's going to be me next month. The birth day itself doesn't matter for me, it's the reality and the thought of being thirty that I have been dwelling in a couple of months that makes me think of who I am and who God thinks I am.

In his three years of ministry, Jesus always gave parable as an illustration that the society could understand (what a genius is God!). This particular parable of talent was also the answer of my questions of the last two months that I've been asking God. What am I doing with my talents? How could my talents multi-fold (did I just invent a new word? :)) and how could my talents glorify God?

I am doing just enough with my non-profit low-paying job that I love most of the time, but "who-we-are" is not how much we got paid. When I went to PeterBlock's small group last week, someone asked me what is my "ideal" goals in life, I said, retired right now with the thought of being able to volunteer in all cause that we care about, and everyone in the group was laughing. I laughed with them, I had told them the truth.

So, right now, I am working on my other talent that could help me to achieve what I want to achieve that otherwise will not be able to achieve if I only sit there and do nothing after work. My artwork will be all over the town in the next couple of months. It's a daunting task, it takes more of my time alone, but I love to paint so it won't cost me a thing other than less time spent with my friends and activism.

In my schedule right now is the SOS Art for Peace and Justice at the Art Academy, starting on May 25th through June 3rd with hundreds other participants. I am submitting two artworks: Hope is the thing that stands upright and Forgotten. The first one is a story of how we underestimate hope as an instrument of peace, and the second one is an illustration of how putting faces over number could build up our compassion of inequality, poverty, and war that are happening right at this second in our world, to our neighbors; and what are we going to do with it? Sit here and eat our dinner?

In July, I am having a solo artshow at the Starbucks (yes, that's not a misspelled, starbucks!) at Harperspoint Montgomery with the title: Tick. The paintings are about everything that "ticks" me. Several things that motivates me, give me chill, move my butt, makes me cry, makes me laugh, grow a warm feeling in my chest. You'll know it when you see the paintings. Several others are in process at the MarxGallery in Covington, KY and other projects I am working on.

Of all my paintings, I will dedicate at least fifty percent of it for a cause, that will be different in each show, and that's a must in every exhibit I will have in the future. That's my current answer to God's invitation to muti-fold my talent, and I will work on my paintings the rest of the week. I pray that God will fill my head with ideas that comes only from Him and my foremost question everytime I paint is what does He want me to say through it. It takes time, cause, I am always thinking (sometimes too much), am too indecisive in terms of what could create the best painting, and am the worst procrastinator I know. If you read this far, pray for me (thank you! :)).

And happiness comes in on tiptoe...because God speaks in silence.

I went to the CincinnatiSymphony with a friend last night and found this song sang by BebeNeuwirth. The complete lyrics of AQuietThing, by JohnKander:
When it all come true, just the way you planned. It's funny but the bells don't ring. It's a quiet thing, when you hold the world, in your trembling hand. You think you'd hear a choir singing, but it's a quiet thing. There are no exploding fire works, where's the roaring of the crowd. Maybe it's the strange new atmosphere, way up here among the clouds. Happiness comes in on tiptoe, well, what do you know, it's a quiet thing, a very quiet thing...