Time was

"Time was," 5 x 7 watercolor, 140 lb. d'Arches. Reference photo, Tailyr Irvine, N, Y. Times

 “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; and the grass withers and the flowers fall,..." 1 Peter 1:24

'Tis the time of year when perhaps we think about our invention, time, time passing and time coming, though the Jewish and Christian God is only present tense, "I am that I am."

Another year, a human invention,  fades with memories, a new one is now, and looms, as does another birthday.

Thus today's watercolor, the first of the year, on the Great Plains, as I think of  times, seasons, grass and the rest of creations unaware of time, just now.

Apocalyptic window

Apocalyptic Window View, 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" watercolor

What is a window? An opening, a multiple metaphor of journeys, living and dying.
Today's World Watercolor Prompt daily challenge was "Window View."
My double challenge was to see it abstractly--not a science fiction view of planets, or weird Picasso shapes, but ?
I've been reading "Good Omens," a hilarious comedy about the end of the world by Gaiman and Pratchett, after seeing the TV series--which includes four modern "horsemen" of the apocalypse--now riding motorcycles. (Read the book, it's hilarious Brit humor about an angel and a demon trying to prevent Armageddon.)
Then I turned to Revelation 6, where they're first mentioned.
Note (What follows is my opinion, but did help influence this painting): I don't believe anyone can predict when the end is coming. Jesus said so, explicitly (Matt, 24:36).  Puts mud in the eye (or throat) of all these TV false prophets who repeatedly claim to know exactly--day, time and place--when it's going to happen--arcanely interpreting Revelation's prophecies to fit their view of history, all for their own ends, raising money for themselves.  Besides, I ask, what time zone are you referring to? And what man-made calendar? Bad, uncertain  times these days? Every time there has been a bad uncertain time people have feared the end of the earth. The Oklahoma Dust Bowl black Sunday. WWII. etc. (Partial end of rant.)
And, then I thought, books are also windows--windows to other worlds, facts, cultures, imaginations. When I open a book I get to travel with the writer--including John the Apostle, my favorite New Testament writer.
He wrote that the scroll was being opened, one seal at a time. 
Ah, a scroll is a book, is a window. Revelation 6 opens a window view on four horsemen who thunder at you for the end of time--white for pestilence-with a crown and bow, red for war-with a sword, black for famine-with scales, and pale(ashen) for death-not carrying anything but often pictured with a scythe. 
Seems to me that most of Revelation is abstract writing--full of images and symbols and writing we can't completely understand (Beware of anyone who tells you there is only one way to interpret it). Had a Bible teacher one time who  insisted it could be read only one way. Know any other symbols that can be interpreted only one way?  Usually by fanatics. Such an insult to the quality and importance of the author and his visions.  
So, here's my appropriately abstract window view of two other abstract windows--the scroll and the images from Rev. 6. Today's  watercolor, 300 lb. d'Arches cold press paper.
(P.S. Open another window in your life and read another good book, Revelation--it'll open windows of wonder and thought)

The most important book, other than...

I've just finished reading perhaps the most important book in my life, other than...the Bible.
That's quite a claim, not one I take lightly, especially to have been influenced by "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman, and "The Man Nobody Knows," by Bruce Barton (1925), about the manly  Jesus. And of course there are others, including Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," but that is more the favorite than most important.
I'll admit, my reaction is influenced by three weeks of unexpected illness and mortality, but I started reading it before then, thanks to the "soul-detox" group I'm privileged to be a part of Sunday nights.  The increased emotional and physical stress has perhaps intensified my reaction, but this is a book I've needed. I wish I'd found it 15 years ago. But it "means" more now.
Here's an except from late in the small book (I've got underlines and marks and stars on almost all 167 pages of text):

"The bottom line of the Gospel is that most of us have to hit some kind of bottom before we even start the real spiritual journey. Up to that point, it is mostly religion. At the bottom, there is little time or interest in being totally practical, efficient, or revenue sharing. You just want to breathe fresh air. The true Gospel is always fresh air and spacious breathing room."

Oh, the book? Written by a Franciscan priest in Albuquerque, Fr. Richard Rohr. 
"Falling Upward, A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life." 
Read it. You don't have to be "Christian" to gain from it. If you are "Christian," it will challenge you, provoke you, make you uncomfortable, awaken you, perhaps anger you. You will be stronger spiritually. 

Some of my marked up pages

Back roads journal--III, the straight narrow

Daybreak over the great Plains, on NM 56

In the wide open spaces I love to travel, straight back roads grab my attention. You never know what will be over the next rise. Traffic is so seldom, that you appreciate it, looking for someone to raise their hand from the steering wheel in greeting. The towns are far apart, and small. You can see the past and into the future out here. 

The Biblical "straight and narrow" is more than just a religious belief, it is a fact of life.  

Village of Mosquero, a county seat, population 140

But you don't get bored, because sooner or later, there will be curves ahead. First though, there are the far horizons, that beckon, that remind you how unpopulated our country really is, how precious it is to get off the Interstates, and breathe.

There will be curves ahead.

Scriptures according to the Tea Party--part 1

Translated the way God intended it

• "In the beginning, we founded this country, and it belongs just to us and people who believe like us."
• "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because of my assault rifle, and the fence we build to keep unwanted people out."
• "To everything there is a season, a time for us to rule the country and take it back from unbelievers."
• "Fox and Rush are a lamp unto my feet."
• "Suffer the little children, especially if they're poor and not white. No money or food or schooling for them."
• "I am not ashamed of the gospel that gives me power to take over the country and make everyone believe like us, or be shouted down or deported."
• "God is love, and we get to say who he loves and who he hates."
• "Blessed are the white, right wing fanatics, for they shall shout down all moderation." 
• "Vengeance is  mine because I am God's appointed."
• "Woe unto you journalists and liberals, for you don't agree with us, and you'll be cast into to book burning."
• "Render unto Caesar--especially the military, but never for poor people."
• "Turn the other cheek  to put them off guard before you blow them away with your assault rifle."
• "Go into all the world and make them believe like us, and invade them if they don't or have oil."
• "The poor you shall have with you always, and we intend to keep it like that. Just let them do our lawns."
• "I am way, truth and light, and there's no room for discussion or compromise since we are always right."
• "Let a woman keep silent,  except for Palin and Bachman." 
• "Death to the infidel...uh, ooops."

Biblically speaking

"That was before we learned to use the Bible as a blunt instrument with which to strike down others in the name of Christ."

From the Erudite Redneck's blog, ...must reading, I think.
 http://eruditeredneck.blogspot.com/