How We're Drawn

Jeremiah 31:3 -- "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." 

Gummy eraser in one hand and Staedtler 2mm HB Carbon lead in the other, I cross-hatch emotion into the anime eye I just put on the face of a cartoon character. It is an amazing connection the artist has with his subject. Life will not be seen in the shades of pencil line until the cartoonist puts it there. With a keen eye and a mind for set detail, I can draw any emotion and/or action into this character that I want. Do I want angry eyes or inquisitive ones? Is the person anxious or adventurous? 

All it takes is a slight change in shade and angle and I create a mood to match the background and set design. Should I desire an evil character, I implement stark shadows and deeper contrast into facial features. If I want a person to look innocent, I open the eyes up and make them more round. Adding big bubbles of light into the retina make the character look child-like and full of wonder.

All of this can be accomplished with a few pencils and a really good eraser. 

In Jeremiah 31:3 we are told that we've been loved with a love no human can fathom. We have been drawn with unfailing kindness. I know the type of drawing mentioned in this verse isn't the same type I use when designing anime characters, but if you think about it, it DOES make total sense. Like an artist, God created humanity using a completely blank canvas - He then poured His love and His kindness into the image, making the character like Him. In Genesis we're told the creation story and how God put "ink to paper" to create something that He deemed good. It's such a beautiful moment. Once there was nothing - and then the love God has inside Him bloomed into everything we know about life.

The truth is, through much of the Bible we can see humanity whimper and whine, complain and argue, and totally loose faith in our Creator. Even today, unwilling to trust, we wonder through this canvas of a world doing our own thing in our own way. I think if one of my characters leaped off the page and began running amuck through the story I've written, I'd probably ball it up and throw it in the trash. He or She is not the writer of this adventure, after all....I am. 

But we see God refuse to do this on numerous occasions. He doesn't give up, chase us around the studio and toss us into the waste basket when we insist on taking the role of writer and producer. No, instead - God loves us with a love so deep, the human brain can't truly grasp it's concept. 

We are very truly drawn with unfailing kindness. 

THAT is an absolutely beautiful thing, indeed!