Whatsoever Things are Lovely
Strength of Woman Series, Vol. VIII

​Copyright Ellen H. Rice, Ocean View, Delaware, 2017. All rights reserved.
30" x 48" oil on canvas
by Ellen Rice

Still in progress
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​…. whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble, whatsoever things are right, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think on these things... and the God of peace will be with you.”

Whatsoever Things are Lovely

by Ellen Rice

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​We walk through life with our eyes opened or shut, with our eyes focused on the positive or the negative.
 
If we watch the news or read online about world events, it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of seeing more negative than good.
 
I worked for one of the most award winning weekly newspapers in this country for many years and did constant battle with my publisher about the paper’s focus on tragedies. The front page almost always had a car accident, a home destroyed by fire or some other horrible event above the fold.
 
When I suggested it would be better for the community if the focus turned toward the student who just got national recognition, the doctor whose work is saving lives, the law student who just passed his bars, etc., a graph would be pulled out showing the spike in newsstand sales every time a tragic event was on the front page. Paper sales meant increased ad revenue. Unfortunately no one had ever made a graph to show the sales if a “Happy” event went above the fold.
 
A weekly paper is a small cry from the avalanche of news that comes at us today, but the motives behind what gets focused on are the same. Money. It’s big business.
 
Do we get a clear picture of reality from watching and reading what’s laid out before us? How do you think all of this negativity affects us?
 
If your eyes are turned toward darkness, can you see the light?
 
There came a point in my life where I became very ill. At the time I was newly committed to solving things, including my illness, through prayer. I struggled. I read about every religion known to man, delved into a Bible encyclopedia, questioned ministers of different faiths, studied the Bible in different translations. One day while reading a passage in the Bible, I realized how my focus over the years had changed from that of a child seeing beauty and innocence all around me to a woman wary of all the pitfalls of the world, brown leaves on trees, cracks in pavement, the boogieman, on and on.
 
The passage said you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven except as a little child. At that moment I consciously worked to turn my thought to a deeper reality, the presence of goodness and love everywhere. The beauty of the world around me returned. The body of my thought and my physical body healed.
 
I was pondering this in prayer about a year ago when I saw the vision of this painting. No, everything isn’t flowery in our lives, but we can chose where our focus lies and when we choose what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable and praiseworthy it affects our actions and through those actions the people and the world around us.
 
And while focusing on “whatsoever is lovely” may not literally leave paths of flowers springing up behind us, we do give life to goodness and leave a trail of it in our wake.
 
I close with hopes that this painting blesses you, those around you and the world.
 
Ellen
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