ART & INSPIRATION FROM PAUL & KATHY BOECHER

Picture yourself sitting on the banks of the Mississippi River. Small shards of ice have broken and shift with the wind, changing with the water’s current. The sky above is blue and filled with a yellow glow. The trees surrounding you have been there for centuries. I wonder what they would say if they could talk. How many people have they witnessed going down that big muddy river? How many homes were disrupted or destroyed as indigenous tribes escaped the new arrivals? Canoes, kayaks, row boats, steamboats, house boats, rafts, inner-tubes and paddle boats have all passed by during those many years. yet so many of those stately trees have stood as sentries guarding the shoreline.

This painting was done on location on a day just like that. Sounds of songbirds filled the branches. The gnarly image stood firm. Vines had made their way around each one of those limbs, entwining, weaving and almost choking the roots below. It’s not much to look at anymore, but the beauty remains. Life goes on, even in the darkest hours. We don’t know what lies ahead. Our future is stagnant in our own eyes. We dream of and wish for more than we have and yet we have more than we know.

Death will come as we all know. It’s inevitable. If our roots are firmly planted in God’s Word of truth and love, there is nothing to fear. Even when it seems there is no hope, God is right beside us, walking with us. Leading, guiding, directing and protecting. The trees will die too. Life is temporary, but eternal life will last forever.