When I was in Seminary in New Jersey, I really thought I was abandoning design and painting, but discovered so many types of those opportunities presented themselves to me while I was out there, studying theology. Although that is interesting and thought-provoking in and of itself to me, today I wanted to share with you one of those opportunities that came my way!
As part of my program of study, I had to do an internship at a church equaling about 10 hours a week or so. I chose Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, NJ and really enjoyed my time there. On literally the last day of my internship with that church, a woman wandered in to the church office to inquire about how the church might help her with a book she was putting together. To my recollection, the secretary wasn’t able to give her any help for what she was looking for, but brought her into my office to show me the book she was working on, since the secretary thought I might appreciate it because it had to do with scripture in an artistic way.
The woman introduced herself as Yueh, and she was putting together a visual harmony of the gospel books. She showed me some sample pages and I was instantly overcome with the beauty and uniqueness of the book, and very impressed with the time and detail it must have taken to work on such a project. The picture above shows a sample of what the book is like. She has read through the Revised Standard Version (I think) and has laid out the four gospel accounts next to each other, showing what words are shared and what stays unique to that particular gospel. At a glance with her book, you can see the thrust of a particular passage, but also can see in detail what each gospel author wrote to be particular for the community that they were writing to.
As we got to talking, Yueh inquired about me and learned that I am a watercolorist and asked if I had any ideas for the cover of her book. I suggested that perhaps to show the meaning of what she was doing, she could have an image of four unique strands that at the same point blend into each other. So, she commissioned me to do such a piece and began printing dust jackets to finish off her book. As a going-away present, she gifted me with my own book and a couple of books to share with others.
I am writing about this now because I heard from Yueh just the other day. When I had last talked to her, she was printing this book on her own. She has since been able to contract with a printer in Canada and is now able to produce a second edition of the book for a very reasonable price and is doing quite well in selling them. I am so happy for her and so in awe of her great persistence to see her passion through.
If you have interest in learning more about her or Rivers of Living Water, Yueh has a website up at http://www.HeavenlyBright.org.
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