Shalom

About a month ago I started a series of paintings based on SHALOM, or peace. I personally don’t think about peace very often, at least not in the way that it is meant. I think most of us would think of peace as the opposite of war, or any kind of conflict. I personally usually think of peace as something for a culture or country to experience, not so much as a personal experience. But this has shifted in my life over the last few years. I wonder how you would define peace. Here is how it is defined for us by Websters, 1. The absence of war or other hostilities. 2. An agreement or a treaty to end hostilities. 3. Freedom from quarrels and disagreement; harmonious relations.

That sounds great and many of us strive to achieve this, but it is so much more. How many of us have real peace, peace in our souls? Peace when we have no idea how we will pay our bills? Peace when the Doctor says it is terminal? Peace in the time of grief? Peace when you are unemployed for years?

Shalom #1

See me working on Shalom #1 here…

https://youtu.be/jkgYIb9_Bs0?si=wc_btKgFluT8blM_

I was recently reminded of the Hebraic meaning of this word, shalom. The Hebrew letters that make the word are, shim, lamed, vav and mem. Shim means to destroy. Lamed is authority. Vav means to connect or nail. Mem is chaos and confusion. When it is all together the meaning is: Peace only comes when the authority connected with chaos and confusion is destroyed.

It is hard to have peace in our circumstances when we are in chaos and confusion in our minds. Personally for me to have this kind of peace I need to surrender the confusion over to the Lord. That is what this series is all about. I found myself striving to create paintings that others would like, or that I thought would sell. I was in confusion. When I paint from my heart and life, there is peace and the rest is up to God.

The best part of the story is about the person who purchased Shalom #1. They fell in love with it before it was even finished. After I sent it to her, she told me this story.

“We will be buying our FIRST home here in Portugal, We signed papers today… Point being the name of our new road is Travessa da Paz. -Pathway of Peace is the meaning. So your Shalom series speaks deep into my heart!”

This is what I love to hear. How the work blesses and speaks to others. It always does when I am in the flow with the creator! As I continue to create more Shalom pieces, my own sense of peace is strengthened.

Shalom #3

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27. As I surrender to the LORD the things of the world that make me afraid and troubled I have His peace. My hope is this series can and will give that to others.

Shalom #4 work in progress