This is the last description of the sculptures. Life was just beginning. These sculptures finally gave him the platform to do what he had wanted to do all his life.
Smiley...
I just found out that I’m colorblind. The diagnosis came completely out of the purple.
The story continues....
*************************************
For my final sculpture in my series depicting my journey through grief, I had always known it would be about David's defining moment, when he meets and kills the giant, Goliath.
It was going to be my crown jewel - my final statement - my closing act - and I was thoroughly intimidated. As I was anticipating it - the stakes were getting higher.
For one thing, in modern usage, the phrase "David and Goliath" has taken on a secular meaning. It has come to reference any underdog situation, a contest where a smaller, weaker opponent faces a much bigger, stronger adversary; the underdog wins in an unusual or surprising way.
Malcolm Gladwell takes it one step further. In his book, He describes the story.
"When David refuses to use Saul’s armor in the fight, he says that he knows enough from his work as a shepherd. As a shepherd, his job was to feed the king’s flocks and keep them safe from predators. At first, it is unclear as to how this would prepare him for lethal combat against an armed adversary. But David was accustomed to moving and adapting quickly as he used projectiles to attack packs of wolves that would menace the sheep. He was used to being overmatched numerically and to using his size and speed to his advantage. His experiences as a shepherd had also forced him to think unconventionally, which gave him the victory against Goliath."
For Gladwell the use of unconventional ways…was intriguing. He saw our choice to forgive as a powerful unconventional way to defeat the trauma of losing our daughter to murder.
This is why Gladwell chose to interview Wilma for his book, David and Goliath. He even came to our house, after the first trial when the accused had been found guilty 2012 and one year prior to publishing the book.
n a newspaper article, he describes their conversation. “She said, you know, that the beautiful thing about forgiveness is that her peace of mind is not contingent on the legal system disposing of the case in a way that is fair and just. She has made her peace with herself and with God.
"In the book I compare the way she dealt with her tragedy with an almost identical case of a family losing a teenage daughter, where the response of the family was profoundly different, it was to start a crusade in their state to dramatically toughen criminal penalties.
"I happen to disagree with that policy, but that's not the real issue. The real issue was the way that that family in California reacted to tragedy was not ultimately successful, in the sense that it did not bring peace and closure to their lives. If you pin your hopes on the way the world out there is going to go about its business, you're taking an enormous risk.
"The outcome of the extraordinarily courageous act that Wilma Derksen took was that she found some measure of peace in the midst of all of this horror.”
It was good to meet someone who understood.
But as you know from my story, I have always felt a kinship with David and often identified with the shepherd David armed only with a slingshot and a few pebbles from a creek.
Our forgiveness was one of the tiny stones that found the only vulnerable opening in the giant's armor.
But there was more - I appreciated him as mentor in leadership all the biblical descriptions of how he learned leadership dealing with all the misfits who came and joined him, spending seven years in hiding with him!
Also, one cannot ignore his poetry which give us a lot of information about what he was thinking and doing privately! These Psalms reveal his “head over heels” love for his God!
For some of us it would be embarrassing how he shares his emotions so intimately of his love for his God…! Many of his psalms were actually lyrics for songs he’d play on his harp in fact when he brought the ark back to Jerusalem he was so delighted he threw off all of his royal attire and danced in the street, in public, thousands watching, with sheer ecstatic joy in his undies!
I have to say I’ve never known another person with such a range of skills from being a musical artist, military acumen, politician, financier, worshiper and leader all in one package. It is uncanny to be so gifted and rounded plus so spiritually aware, all in one person!
For me the challenge was to depict the image of David and Goliath in an unconventional way…. I had thought of the traditional –a huge giant of a man being confronted by a tiny shepherd boy.
But then I realized that I as an artist have license to mix the metaphors, so because he was a shepherd/leader to his nation. Also, because he’s a forerunner of the Messiah’s kingdom when he returns, because he has been compared to Jesus who is also been called the lamb of God, I gave David a lamb’s head.
This lamb/David sculpture has a Michelangelo body carrying a Goliath’s sword which he used to kill him. He has a slingshot around his waist which he used to bring the giant down! Note the bag is where he keeps the stones for his sling. (He never let his appreciation for the sling shot go unnoticed. When he became king, he created a division of slingers in his standing army.) He is also carrying the head of the bear - representing Goliath.
At first, I thought it too gory to have him carry a human head like Goliath’s head so I didn't know what to do... leave him as is. Yet it was empty with out Goliath. What is Goliath -- he is a bear of a man - more brute than intelligence. A bear -- I would sculpt a bear. Then as I sculpted it I realized how appropriate it was. The bear head was in keeping with forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn't confront the person but the aggression inside the person that is creating the conflict, destroying life.
The bear's head also symbolizes David's own selfish lust and aggression. It symbolizes our own duality.
For me creating this figure of David was my way of desiring to be like him! To come to know his secret of success! Hoping creating him would somehow cause all his gifting to rub off on me! It's an encouragement, an inspiration.
We’ve al been lonely, rejected, possibly abused by even those we expected to help us! We’ve all had enemies! Yet, we can overcome! We can have success in our particular skill set. We can have a faith that nurtures us and know we are loved.
We can vanquish our enemies without losing the good.
This sculpture is meant to give us hope. Even these hardships of life will teach us to grow and succeed when even those around us and we ourselves expected to fail! There is hope!
Smiley...
I just found out that I’m colorblind. The diagnosis came completely out of the purple.
The story continues....
*************************************
For my final sculpture in my series depicting my journey through grief, I had always known it would be about David's defining moment, when he meets and kills the giant, Goliath.
It was going to be my crown jewel - my final statement - my closing act - and I was thoroughly intimidated. As I was anticipating it - the stakes were getting higher.
For one thing, in modern usage, the phrase "David and Goliath" has taken on a secular meaning. It has come to reference any underdog situation, a contest where a smaller, weaker opponent faces a much bigger, stronger adversary; the underdog wins in an unusual or surprising way.
Malcolm Gladwell takes it one step further. In his book, He describes the story.
"When David refuses to use Saul’s armor in the fight, he says that he knows enough from his work as a shepherd. As a shepherd, his job was to feed the king’s flocks and keep them safe from predators. At first, it is unclear as to how this would prepare him for lethal combat against an armed adversary. But David was accustomed to moving and adapting quickly as he used projectiles to attack packs of wolves that would menace the sheep. He was used to being overmatched numerically and to using his size and speed to his advantage. His experiences as a shepherd had also forced him to think unconventionally, which gave him the victory against Goliath."
For Gladwell the use of unconventional ways…was intriguing. He saw our choice to forgive as a powerful unconventional way to defeat the trauma of losing our daughter to murder.
This is why Gladwell chose to interview Wilma for his book, David and Goliath. He even came to our house, after the first trial when the accused had been found guilty 2012 and one year prior to publishing the book.
n a newspaper article, he describes their conversation. “She said, you know, that the beautiful thing about forgiveness is that her peace of mind is not contingent on the legal system disposing of the case in a way that is fair and just. She has made her peace with herself and with God.
"In the book I compare the way she dealt with her tragedy with an almost identical case of a family losing a teenage daughter, where the response of the family was profoundly different, it was to start a crusade in their state to dramatically toughen criminal penalties.
"I happen to disagree with that policy, but that's not the real issue. The real issue was the way that that family in California reacted to tragedy was not ultimately successful, in the sense that it did not bring peace and closure to their lives. If you pin your hopes on the way the world out there is going to go about its business, you're taking an enormous risk.
"The outcome of the extraordinarily courageous act that Wilma Derksen took was that she found some measure of peace in the midst of all of this horror.”
It was good to meet someone who understood.
But as you know from my story, I have always felt a kinship with David and often identified with the shepherd David armed only with a slingshot and a few pebbles from a creek.
Our forgiveness was one of the tiny stones that found the only vulnerable opening in the giant's armor.
But there was more - I appreciated him as mentor in leadership all the biblical descriptions of how he learned leadership dealing with all the misfits who came and joined him, spending seven years in hiding with him!
Also, one cannot ignore his poetry which give us a lot of information about what he was thinking and doing privately! These Psalms reveal his “head over heels” love for his God!
For some of us it would be embarrassing how he shares his emotions so intimately of his love for his God…! Many of his psalms were actually lyrics for songs he’d play on his harp in fact when he brought the ark back to Jerusalem he was so delighted he threw off all of his royal attire and danced in the street, in public, thousands watching, with sheer ecstatic joy in his undies!
I have to say I’ve never known another person with such a range of skills from being a musical artist, military acumen, politician, financier, worshiper and leader all in one package. It is uncanny to be so gifted and rounded plus so spiritually aware, all in one person!
For me the challenge was to depict the image of David and Goliath in an unconventional way…. I had thought of the traditional –a huge giant of a man being confronted by a tiny shepherd boy.
But then I realized that I as an artist have license to mix the metaphors, so because he was a shepherd/leader to his nation. Also, because he’s a forerunner of the Messiah’s kingdom when he returns, because he has been compared to Jesus who is also been called the lamb of God, I gave David a lamb’s head.
This lamb/David sculpture has a Michelangelo body carrying a Goliath’s sword which he used to kill him. He has a slingshot around his waist which he used to bring the giant down! Note the bag is where he keeps the stones for his sling. (He never let his appreciation for the sling shot go unnoticed. When he became king, he created a division of slingers in his standing army.) He is also carrying the head of the bear - representing Goliath.
At first, I thought it too gory to have him carry a human head like Goliath’s head so I didn't know what to do... leave him as is. Yet it was empty with out Goliath. What is Goliath -- he is a bear of a man - more brute than intelligence. A bear -- I would sculpt a bear. Then as I sculpted it I realized how appropriate it was. The bear head was in keeping with forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn't confront the person but the aggression inside the person that is creating the conflict, destroying life.
The bear's head also symbolizes David's own selfish lust and aggression. It symbolizes our own duality.
For me creating this figure of David was my way of desiring to be like him! To come to know his secret of success! Hoping creating him would somehow cause all his gifting to rub off on me! It's an encouragement, an inspiration.
We’ve al been lonely, rejected, possibly abused by even those we expected to help us! We’ve all had enemies! Yet, we can overcome! We can have success in our particular skill set. We can have a faith that nurtures us and know we are loved.
We can vanquish our enemies without losing the good.
This sculpture is meant to give us hope. Even these hardships of life will teach us to grow and succeed when even those around us and we ourselves expected to fail! There is hope!
Joy is essential to the spiritual life.
Whatever we may think of or say about God,
when we are not joyful, our thoughts and words cannot bear fruit. Jesus reveals to us God’s love so that his joy may become ours and that our joy may become complete.
Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing—sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death—can take that love away.
Joy is not the same as happiness.
We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there because it comes from the knowledge of God’s love for us. . . .
Joy does not simply happen to us.
We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.
It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing,
not even death, can take God away from us.
– Henri Nouwen
Reference to quoted in Deseret News - Malcolm Gladwell tells of the power of forgiveness By Eric Schulzke
Whatever we may think of or say about God,
when we are not joyful, our thoughts and words cannot bear fruit. Jesus reveals to us God’s love so that his joy may become ours and that our joy may become complete.
Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing—sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death—can take that love away.
Joy is not the same as happiness.
We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there because it comes from the knowledge of God’s love for us. . . .
Joy does not simply happen to us.
We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.
It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing,
not even death, can take God away from us.
– Henri Nouwen
Reference to quoted in Deseret News - Malcolm Gladwell tells of the power of forgiveness By Eric Schulzke
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