Welcome to Sophie's Nature Art!

Come to the source of life,
Thirsty and tired and tired.
Come, for it is not in vain;
Here you will be calm and full.

Come to the spring to refresh yourself,
immerse yourself in faith.
This is where sin is buried,
Here you will be blessed and pure.

Come to the healing spring,
You will be healed.
See how it bubbles so brightly,
drink to eternal salvation.

Hurry away! Why forgive?
Eternal gain is at stake here.
This is the source of life,
here is your only goal.

- Text: Wihelm Appel (1890), Günter Balders (1983)

I would like to start this blog entry with this beautiful old hymn. It is the inspiration for the scene at the source of life.

Have you ever noticed how much the Bible uses images and parables? I have been studying teaching in parables for some time now. It was Jesus' favorite way of making his teachings understandable to the people. The ingenious thing about parables and illustrated discourses is that everyone can understand them, regardless of their level of education. The simple person understands the image as it is told. Thinkers, on the other hand, find an infinite number of aspects in a picture that allow them to grasp the spiritual teaching behind it much better. Another advantage of a parable is that the images it contains remain in our memory. When we encounter them in everyday life, we are reminded of the spiritual teaching associated with this image.

In the meantime, I have become an absolute fan of figurative speeches and parables. I believe that God wants to pass on spiritual teachings to us all day long through everyday experiences so that we can get to know and love him better. The clouds that pass by in the sky tell us something about God's grace and faithfulness. Every sunrise reminds us of the path we walk as Christians. It begins with a small ray of light of knowledge and grows brighter and brighter until Jesus, the sun of righteousness, has fully risen in our hearts. Every meal reminds us that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. In every kind word, in every smile, we may recognize a tiny part of the glorious being of God. There is so much more to discover in every little everyday action, in nature, at work and also in interpersonal relationships. Above all, we can learn a little more about the wonderful character of our brilliant God!

I really enjoy keeping my eyes open for them. Unfortunately, your mind is often elsewhere or you're too caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you don't even discover most of the gems.

But that shouldn't really be the main topic of this post. Let's get back to our story! 🙂

A break at last!

The wanderer and his new friend finally reach the source of life. They can hear the splashing of the spring from afar. Since the hiker had left the forest, his entire path had been in the blazing sun. He had finished his water bottle a while ago. His companion had also not drunk anything since tasting the foul water at the spring of eternal youth. Both of them therefore felt very thirsty, as if they had been walking for hours on a hot summer's day when the water had run out. How soothing and refreshing a spring with its cool water is!

The two now come to the spring. Next to the spring is a table with a jug and cups. The two of them eagerly draw the water from the spring and drink large gulps of this delicious water! They drink until their burning thirst is quenched. Then the pilgrim from the wide path begins to get rid of his clothes. He jumps into the spring water and bathes abundantly in it. When he climbs out of the water again, he feels like a new person!

The hiker himself takes off his shoes and washes his feet in the spring water. They have become quite dirty from the long journey. The water has a cooling and healing effect on his chafed feet.

In the meantime, the second pilgrim discovers an inviting beach lounger. Suddenly he realizes how tired he actually is. He lies down on the lounger. As the sun is still very strong, a protective parasol has been placed over the lounger. The tired pilgrim now rests under the umbrella of the Most High. At last, after a long search, he has come to rest. His heart is full of gratitude for the wonderful gift of grace that he has received so undeservedly.

This is where the story of this pilgrim ends. We will find out a little more about him in later blog posts. Even though his story ends here in the picture, I can assure you that he reached the heavenly city safely. His further journey was somewhat different to that of our pilgrim, but it would go beyond the scope of this article to tell you about it.

How is our hiker faring?

Rest at the spring

There is a bench next to the spring. The hiker sits down on it. He takes a closer look at his surroundings. The water comes from a rock. It looks very old and yet life just seems to gush out of it! The water is always fresh and clear. Nothing, no dirt in the world, can contaminate the spring. It will always produce clean, purifying, invigorating water.

The spring is overshadowed by a large willow. It provides weary hikers with soothing shade after a long walk in the heat. Lively chirping can be heard in the branches of the willow. The hiker observes a multitude of beautiful birds flying around the spring. All in all, this place seems to vibrate with life. Fragrant flowers grow in the meadow next to the spring. On closer inspection, the hiker can make out lots of insects buzzing back and forth from flower to flower. There really was life here!

There is a table next to the bench. On it are the aforementioned mugs and a jug of water. There is also a deliciously fragrant loaf of bread on the table. As the hiker takes in the wonderful aroma, his stomach suddenly speaks up. Full of gratitude for the wonderful care of his master, he helps himself to a generous portion of the bread. It was the same bread he had already eaten in the Forest of fear had received from the angel. The wanderer realizes that it is the bread of life. As he breaks the loaf to eat it, the wanderer suddenly remembers the scene on the cross. Jesus' body was broken for him on the cross so that he could live. This bread and the water are a symbol of Jesus' sacrifice.

The hiker ponders the meaning for a long time. He enjoys the peace and quiet of this wonderful place for a while longer. He listens to the cheerful chirping of the birds, accompanied by the lively bubbling of the spring in the background. He enjoys the gentle breeze that refreshes the air. The sweet scent of the flowers rounds off the whole experience wonderfully.

The hiker would actually like to stay much longer in this place. But he knows that the journey is still long and arduous. He remembers the angel's admonition to provide himself with sufficient water and bread at the spring. So he packs as much of both as he can get away with. He notices that the bread is never less, no matter how much he eats or packs. He takes in the wonderful impressions of this beautiful place one last time before continuing his journey, well fortified.

The symbolism behind the source of life

When I think about this scene, I realize how much there is in this picture. I'm sure you can discover so much more than what I've come up with. (If you have any further insights, please let me know).

The rock from which the living water comes is Jesus. He is the cornerstone and the foundation of his church and of life. In the Old Testament, we read about the people of Israel, whom God delivered from Egyptian bondage. They had to wander through the desert to reach their new homeland. As we know, it is hot and dry in the desert. Water is scarce there. So it wasn't long before the people began to grumble. God gave Moses, who was leading the people on God's behalf, the order to strike a rock once. Suddenly, this rock became a spring and supplied the entire people and their animals with water. The story can be here can be read here.

It is impossible for water to suddenly come out of a dead stone. God has worked a great miracle for his people here. The rock stands for Jesus. As the wanderer had already recognized, Jesus was once struck for our sin. Through the blow, he was able to become the source of life for us. Moses was the representative of the people. He and all his people were sinners. So it is our sins and we sinners who brought Jesus to the cross. We beat him, but he allowed himself to be beaten. He suffered his agony and death in our place so that we could preserve his life. Just as the blow on the rock caused a huge spring to gush forth, Jesus' death on the cross caused eternal life to gush forth. We may come to him and drink abundantly from him. He invites everyone to do so:

And the Spirit and the bride say: Come; and whosoever heareth, let him say, Come; and whosoever thirsteth, let him come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

- Revelation 22, 17

Jesus offers us his eternal life for free! What a unique offer! All we have to do is let go of our old life and start all over again with God.

This is symbolized in baptism. The old, sinful person is buried through immersion and emerges from the watery grave as a new, reborn person. Baptism symbolizes the cleansing of all our sins. Everything that defiles us is washed away. The second pilgrim, who came from the broad way, experienced this at the source of life. He had just begun his journey with God and had to be completely cleansed of his sins. The wayfarer, on the other hand, had already passed through the narrow gate. This was his baptism. In order to pass through the narrow gate, he also had to lay down his old life and accept the new life of Jesus. But the road to the spring was long. On this long road, the wayfarer had failed and sinned again and again. In other words, he was still generally clean, but the dirt of sin had contaminated his feet. They therefore had to be washed again and again.

Here you can see a picture of my baptism in 2010 at home in the pool:

This washing is symbolized in the Lord's Supper. There we wash each other's feet as a sign that God is cleansing us from our everyday sins. Only then are we worthy to receive communion. Communion consists of grape juice and bread. These symbolize the blood and body of Jesus, i.e. his sacrificial death, which we claim for ourselves. By taking communion, we take Jesus' life into ourselves and renew the covenant we made with him at baptism.

All these symbols can be found here at the source of life. Even if not every detail fits exactly, we can deduce the principles here.

Jesus is everywhere!

I don't know if you've noticed it yet, but Jesus is all along the narrow path. When I started planning the picture, I was afraid that Jesus would only appear at the edge. But if you take a closer look, Jesus runs through the entire picture.

He invites us onto the narrow path. Through his sacrifice on the cross, he gives us access to eternal life. He is the good shepherd who leads us to life and to the source of life. He himself is the narrow gate - no one comes to the Father except through him! He is the way to God. Jesus is the entire way to the heavenly city. He has also walked the entire path before us and has paved it for us so that we have it easier.

Promises are written all along the way to the heavenly city. This is the word of God. It admonishes and encourages the pilgrims and gives them life-giving strength. Jesus is the Word come to life.

Jesus is also Lord of his church. He is always present when believers meet for worship. He is the center of their worship and adoration.

As we have seen today, Jesus is the source of life. He is the water and the bread of life. He cleanses us from our sins and gives us his life.

Ultimately, Jesus IS the narrow way! Without him, this path and thus the possibility of returning to God and to eternal joy would not exist.

Praise and thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ that he humbled himself so far, endured infinite pain and the worst death to make this possible for us!

Not only that. Jesus accompanies us the whole time on this journey. He hears our complaints and lamentations, sees our unbelief and our failures, ready to help immediately if we would only ask him.

With him, we have the greatest source of energy and power in the universe constantly at our side!

I wish I would remind myself of this much more often! If we really believed with all our hearts that God means well with us, then there would be no obstacles we couldn't overcome and no temptations we couldn't resist.

Unfortunately, we limit ourselves and, above all, God in His actions through our weak faith. This is why there are always challenges and difficulties on the way to the heavenly city. We could easily overcome these if we asked Jesus for his help and went forward in faith.

Our hiker also has to go through another test next. Once again, it's a matter of life and death. But more on this in the next blog post!