Pure Heart

Pure Heart

24" x 20"

Oil on canvas, heavy gold frame

SOLD

Also available as prints and note cards.

So, what helps when we are grieving?  Do funerals help people get through the loss of a loved one?  Does solitude; or  do wakes filled with stories of the loved one's foibles and antics?  Does time really heal?

I've known people who get memorial tattoos which are basically portraits they carry lifelong on their bodies.  Some monied people start foundations or build libraries titled with the name of the beloved person who died.

Most of us carry on with a limp and a heavy heart, going through our days sometimes well and sometimes ... not.  The weight of the loss does change over time, but does that simply mean our thoughts become distracted by all the obligations that fill our days?  Does time really heal?

Ministers at graveside services often still use the old timeworn words, "in the sure and certain hope of resurrection," and this is meaningful to me.  One of the reasons that I scour cemeteries for angel monuments and paint them is this.  They are a reminder of the hope of the resurrection.  So that in loss, when we are at our weakest and most vulnerable, we can look up to heaven and smile; gaze on a cemetery angel or a painting of one, and smile, knowing that our loved one has passed from our sight, but that we will be reunited one day.

I'm guessing that when a child dies, this is the hardest time to carry the weight of grief. I am thankful that is not a grief I have known, but my heart goes out to those who have.  This cherub is one of several I have painted so far, and I'm not sure whether this is a "he" or a "she".  A century ago both genders wore hairstyles like this.  Choose what seems best to you.  I'm going with "her" here.  I love the gentleness of her expression, and the sweet innocence of her prayerfulness.  Who could deny prayers coming from such a one as this?  Certainly a loving Father God will answer these prayers.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."  Matthew 5:8

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and  blameless in His sight.  In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves."     Ephesians 1:3-6