“Response is what matters. All events serve His Will.” ~ E. Elliot
In her book entitled “Be Still My Soul”, Elisabeth Elliot proposed this gem. Here, in much the same way as anthracite is turned into a diamond, she so compresses the gift of Life. Born in the same year her first husband gave his life for the sake of the Gospel, Joe is also convinced that:
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, To gain what he cannot lose.”
“Response IS everything. So much am I convicted of this truth, that I was both led and enabled to forfeit the charming “catch and release” nature of wildlife art. I exchanged it for an eternal perspective when my relationship with the Pa. Sportsman magazine (and others), had ended. However, it was through that death, I believe, that the greater good began to emerge in my painting.
Through this severance from freelance efforts, I was given the freedom and joy to worship God, in and through the process of the painted panel. Had I obtained only the success of my own aspirations, I’d probably still be painting fish!
Fundamentally, I feel somehow like the Apostle Paul… ‘who went in response to a revelation’, (Galatians 2:2). And so should I.”