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Russ Ramsey Books

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“We live in communities that need goodness, truth, and beauty. And we play a role in advancing those transcendentals that make us human. We are to curate them for others. We play a role in blowing on the embers of "whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable.”

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Book:Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith
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“This is the intangibility of genius--to create work that transfers from the canvas, the page, or the instrument into the heart of another person, arousing a longing for beauty and an end to sadness. This was what Vincent wanted to create--art that would transfer from his easel into someone else's soul to work as a balm of healing for the broken.”

ArtBeautyVincent Van Gogh
Book:Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith
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“What comes out of this life is his business, but what I do will never be what makes me who I am. Because this is so, when suffering comes, it doesn’t have the power to unravel God’s design. Instead, the suffering becomes part of the fabric (p. 155).”

Suffering
Book:Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us About the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive
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“Our sorrows are ultimately hallowed by the One who enters fully into the painful stories of our own lives in order to show us that our suffering matters, while also becoming the place from which the Spirit enables us to become agents of God’s healing grace to those who find themselves lost and alone in their griefs (p. xi)”

Suffering
Book:Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us About the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive
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“The goal of suffering well is to move us not only beyond the stick figures, but also from a place of pride to one of intimacy and familiarity with our Lord. It is to move us not from crude to eloquent, but from unfamiliar to intimate. This is why we practice spiritual disciplines (p. 50).”

Suffering
Book:Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us About the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive
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“I do not like being thwarted, but shall I receive good from the God and not also trouble? The voices that say Recover so you can get back to normal, grossly underestimate the gift of this wrecked life. Why is it a gift? Because I would have no compelling reason to step from my comfortable existence into the quest for what’s next if my present security wasn’t taken from me. It is rare for a man to plan his own journey toward growth and change. Usually these journeys are thrust on us unexpectedly… If my ego tried to plan this journey, it would be limited by the expectations of what I would already hope to find. There would be no element of surprise, wonder, or faith--just a forced march towards a future my present self assumes is what I need. THat would not be a journey of faith but of control--and a fool’s errand. Faith is the conviction to trust that there are good things out beyond what I can see and would never know to pursue--glorious things God himself will bring to pass. I need those glorious things.”

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Book:Struck: One Christian's Reflections on Encountering Death
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“If I wanted, I could come up with reasons to be angry with everyone I know; there are sins of commission or omission I could hang on every last person in my life… The truth is, I will never run out of people to indict. We are all guilty of so many failures to love well that if I wanted--and sometimes I do want--I could find some fault or transgression in everyone I know that I could then use to justify writing them off. I could blaze that trail to hell if I wanted to, and just the thought of it scares me off”

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Book:Struck: One Christian's Reflections on Encountering Death
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“Beauty is a relic of Eden - a remnant of what is good. It comes from a deeper realm. It trickles into our lives as water from a crack in a dam, and what lies on the other side of that dam fills us with wonder and fear. Glory lies on the other side. And we were made for glory.”

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Book:Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith
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“By painting himself into the boat in The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt wants us to know that he believes his life will either be lost in a sea of chaos or preserved by the Son of God. Those are his only two options. And by peering through the storm and out of the frame to us, he asks if we are not in the same boat.”

Rembrandt
Book:Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith
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