Science & the Truth-seeker

Truth: some thoughts...

Today I looked at the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science Facebook page. On it I saw a poster of stars in a nebula overprinted with the words “That which can be destroyed by the truth should be” a quote attributed to P. C. Hodgell. [1]
(source: http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=9220a569e9a3b0c2bc2e1285bcab398c&eu=pYsLGm-hgxlo0QD32DYbyw#!/)

I found myself wondering about Stephen Dawkins, humanists, philosophers, thinkers & all people in terms of their personal searches for the truth. I think pretty much everyone is trying to find out what is true in this world; what they can rely on as being true. When you are in the queue in a supermarket you may be forgiven for thinking that very few people are even thinking about truth, eternity, and the meaning of life. We imagine people are too caught up in thinking about the price of fish, & the everyday-ness of life to care much about the pursuit of truth! However, I think most people are seeking truth; trying to find out what is right, true, trustworthy, reliable, etc, in order to try to make sense of life in their own experience. Even if we are not conscious of our own pursuit of truth & understanding of this world, I think everyone wants to find something that they can rely on as being their ‘truth’, simple because that gives them a central position from which to start from: a reliable starting point from which sense can be made of the rest of this often mysterious, baffling, wonderful, scarey thing we call our lives.

I realised how much I admire anyone who wants to pursue the search for the truth. I think it takes courage, determination & single-mindedness to set out on a personal search for the truth. I admire that bravery a great deal. I admire the courage it takes to seek the truth. I admire the tenacity needed to search high & low for the truth, realising that this search can often entail months or even years of fruitlessness, before we uncover the elusive reality or truth that we are seeking.
I admire anyone who is prepared to even begin their personal voyager of discovery.

Some notes & personal observations about the purpose statement of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
The About section of the Facebook page of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science reads: ‘The mission of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science is to support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and suffering.’

The first part of the statement is sound, but as a Christian I wonder about the second part, which I have italicised in the above quote, so you can see the two parts of it. I heartily agree with the purpose... ‘to support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world...’ I have no problem at all with the purpose of promoting science or scientific education. I think it is vitally important that we encourage critical thinking in everyone. Of course we should be critical thinkers; wondering about the true nature of the cosmos is important. Even promoting an ‘evidence-based understanding of the natural world’ causes me no problem at all... that’s great! Anyone seeking truth in this arena is to be congratulated, as far as I am concerned.
Science, scientific education, critical thinking, evidence-based understanding, all these things are important. As I wrote earlier, I admire the search for truth & the seeker of truth. I admire anyone who wants to find out about the world, the nature of the universe, and who is willing to use rigorous, repeatable, scientific method to come to a conclusion about the nature of nature itself.

Science, scientific education, critical thinking & evidence-based understanding are all excellent tools for the human mind to begin to explore inner space (the microscopic) & outer space (the world outside of our own bodies) in an attempt to get to grips with truth, in all its forms. The Foundations purpose of wanting to use science to show or ‘prove’ what is in the physical world is to be applauded. Of course that is an excellent motive.

However, I have (currently) two reservations regarding the second part (the bit I have italicised) of the purpose statement of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science:

1) The first issue is the Foundation’s use of science.
It seems to me that the Foundation is quite rightly concentrating on the physical, provable world. Science can certainly shed some light & understanding on that... it is an excellent tool to do so. However, the Foundations purpose goes a step further than simply wanting to use science to prove what is in the physical world. The italicised, second part of the Foundation’s  purpose statement reads: ’...in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and suffering.’ Immediately this second part of the purpose statement alters the first part, because it introduces a purpose, or stated reason for the science-based investigation. The reason behind the investigation of the physical world, using science & critical thinking. It seems to me that based on the second part of the purpose statement the expected outcome, or driving purpose of all the science & critical thinking, in the Foundation’s eyes, is to have something to say about the non-physical universe. Clearly religions; matters that require faith; causes & effects that are not subject to the universe’s physical laws, etc, fall outside the scope of that which science can prove or disprove.

The supernatural is, by definition, beyond the natural world.

A definition of the word supernatural (from Merriam-Webster Dictionary) is, ‘of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe;’ or (from Oxford Dictionaries), ‘(of a manifestation or event) Attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.’

Based on these definitions, there is a ‘world’ or ‘reality’ or ‘order of existence beyond the visible observable universe.’

An immediate question arrises here: How can science or any other ‘tool’ which we might use to provide understanding of the physical universe, be a useful, appropriate tool to use in examining the supernatural world, which, by definition is BEYOND the visible observable universe?

Surely it must be obvious that science & scientific investigation is unable to be used to observe, & therefore comment on, anything which is outside of the visible observable universe.

Therefore, science & scientific investigation should be used to investigate the physical universe, but it is not reasonable to try to use a tool that is bound & limited to the physical realm of reality, in any pursuit or comment of that which is outside the physical universe (that which is supernatural.)

Science is the wrong ‘tool’ for that job!

We need other ‘tools’, better suited to the job of discovering truth regarding the supernatural world. Science just won’t “cut it” in that world!

Worse still, the person who tries to use science or any other ‘tool’ suited only to investigating the physical universe will get misleading results at best, or wildly erroneous & conflicting results at worst, using science-based ‘tools’ in this way. Trying to use science to comment on the metaphysical is bound to produce the wrong conclusions. It’s a recipe for disappointment, frustration & wrong conclusions!

It is important to realise that science, like every other man-made investigative ‘tool’ has limitations. Of course it does, it is a creation of human beings who are bound inside a physical, temporal universe. Science is excellent at observing & recording information in the physical, temporal universe, because it is a construction of our human brains, which are themselves bound to the physical, temporal universe.

There seems to be a trend in modern thinking to take what can be proven (through observation) & to endlessly extrapolate from the known, observable facts, into the unprovable, speculative, theoretical. On the face of it, that sounds OK. Usually a scientist has to speculate what may be found, then an experiment has to be devised which will prove or disprove the theory. So far so good. We can see speculation & theorising, which leads to solid evidence (determined by later experimentation) as being a necessary pre-requisite of gaining new facts.

The problem (as far as I am concerned) is with those people who remain in the unprovable, speculative, theoretical, but who do not report that they are doing so! Such people try to sound as if such-and-such is an indisputable fact, when, far from it, they are merely trying to propose a view, a theory, which can not be proven.

If a person accurately reported facts & accurately differentiated between what is actually known (provable) & what is as yet an unproven theory, then I would have a lot of respect for their scientific veracity. But there is an increasing trend for so called “scientists” to propose ever-increasingly outlandish theories, without the evidence to support these speculations. If there is hard evidence for a viewpoint then OK, that’s great, tell me about it. But what I dislike is someone trying to “pass off” a theory as fact. Don’t do that, it’s untruthful, dishonest & degrading to the noble sciences. Anyone who is reporting something as fact, when they know full well that it is a theory, is misusing science, as far as I can see.

I studied the Earth Sciences at degree level & have always enjoyed what the sciences can provide in terms of explanation & interpretation of the complex, mysterious, wonderful cosmos. I am convinced that the sciences are valuable, irreplaceable, excellent ‘tools’ in our human quest to understand the universe. I am a science fan!

When science is used to comment on the physical, temporal universe, there is no conflict, & no problem. But when science is used to comment or speculate on the supernatural universe (which can not be observed, detected, or in any other way related to by science), then science is being ‘pushed too far’ & errors in thinking are almost automatically the result.

My motto therefore is: Keep science for the physical, temporal universe... use it to comment on that which is observable & provable, for which science is superbly suited.

But when it comes to examining & explaining the unseen, undetectable, non-physical or metaphysical universe, my other motto regarding science is: Don’t use the wrong tool for the job!

2) The second issue is with the second part of the Foundation’s purpose statement.

I am a bit surprised by that second part of the Foundation’s purpose statement. If the purpose of the Foundation is science, scientific education, critical thinking & evidence-based understanding, then why is it necessary to have the second part of the purpose statement at all? I would expect that someone who is pursuing a personal goal of seeking out truth, & who decides that science is the best tool for that job, would be happy & contented with gathering as much information on the physical universe as they possibly can. If their goal is to uncover truth using science, then the discovery of fact, which can be repeatedly proven by experimentation (the scientific method) would surely be “goals-end” for them. I would expect a science-using seeker of truth should be abundantly happy & excited by the wealth & depth of information & insight coming from all of our scientific investigations, past, present & future. In short, I think a seeker of truth who looks for answers using science as their ‘tool’ of choice would be wise to build their understanding of the cosmos purely on the evidence that their scientific investigations produce.

Why then, would it even be necessary or desirable to try to use the information gathered by the science ‘tool’, to try to comment on the supernatural, the religious, the metaphysical, etc? What’s the point of that? Why not simply ignore that which can not be proven or disproven by science? Such matters are outside the scope of science, so why try to use the wrong tool for the job?! That doesn’t make sense, nor is it sensible, or useful. Nor will any useful, helpful insight possibly come from this misuse of what science has to ‘say’ about the supernatural, since science has NOTHING to say about that which it can not ‘see’!

I would imagine anyone who tries to misuse science in this way, to ‘prove a point’ will inevitably become disillusioned by the very science they are trying to use, since it can’t be used the way they want to use it! I don’t think contentment, happiness, & feelings of achievement are to be found by such misuse of the noble art of the sciences.

Again, I state that I am a great fan of the sciences & of all that the sciences can tell us about the physical, temporal universe. But please stop hi-jacking these wonderful ‘tools’ & trying to get science to ‘say’ something that it is ill-equiped to comment on.

In conclusion: I admire the first part of the Foundation’s purpose statement, which refers to science, critical thinking & the pursuit of truth. I admire that very much. But I think truths, observations & results gained from the science ‘tool’ are then bent out of shape; are misrepresented; are misused by the second part of the Foundation’s purpose statement.

Anyone... be they scientist, philosopher, atheist, secular humanist, religious adherent, or just a curious thinker (!) who sets out to discover truth is, in my book, a hero. Anyone who wants to find out the ‘truth’ & who marshals their mental & physical resources to pursue that goal, no matter what the cost & no matter where the search will take them, is applauded & ‘cheered on’ by me. Such a pursuit takes courage & backbone. Anyone who wants to find ‘truth’ in its pure, unadulterated form, without motive or intent to try to use it to further their own agenda is a true truth-seeker. Good on them!

My expectation about truth is this: Pure truth should be able to ‘stand on its own two feet’. It should be pure, clear, untainted, irreducible & consistent through-and-through. If someone is seeking truth simply to be better informed, to be more enlightened, to be better equiped to manage life, then I believe these are pure-hearted motives, which illustrate the true seeker of truth. Discovering ‘truth’, wherever it lies is the goal of the truth-seeker. The motivation is enlightenment for its own sake.

a note on excitement about discovering truth
Naturally, if we discover a ‘truth’ which excites us, fires up our imagination & helps us to make more sense of the universe, then we may well want to share our newly discovered truth with anyone who will listen! Excitement at the point of truth-discovery ought to be expected, & encouraged. It is wonderful to see someone discover a truth they have not known before.

a note about ulterior motives in truth-seeking
However, I think that anyone who has an ulterior motive behind their search for ‘truth’ is not really seeking ‘truth’ at all. If there is an ulterior motive that drives the search for truth, then that seeker may not really be in search of the pure, unadulterated ‘truth’ in the first place. An ulterior motive illustrates the true purpose of that seekers’ work: an attempt to force the ‘truth’ they have discovered onto another person. Someone who deliberately wants to “make” everyone else see their ‘truth’ is a bore! Worse, they are manipulators, of other people, & of the ‘truth’ they say they are searching for.
This is a tricky area to write about, since someone who discovers a ‘truth’ without manipulative ulterior motives & excitedly wants to inform anyone who will listen about it, may look like & behave like, someone who uses the “truths” they have discovered to try to “make” other people believe what they themselves have come to believe.

The difference between the two people may not be obvious to a third person, since it is one of motivation. The former simply wants to express their joy & excitement at discovering a new truth, they have no interest in “making” anyone else “see their truth”. There is great nobility in this excited reporting on a newly discovered truth. The latter is set on changing what other people believe... that’s manipulation through-and-through. There is nothing noble, or even ‘true’ about that sort of person.

In regard to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science; if the Foundation’s purpose statement read: ‘The mission of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science is to support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world.’ Then I would see no ulterior motivation within it at all. That sounds like truth-seeking in it’s purest form to me, which I applaud unreservedly.

However... the second part of the statement ’...in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and suffering.’ gives the purpose behind the scientific investigation & critical thinking. The purpose is to change someone else’s mind, under the guise of science, which, as stated earlier, has no ability to inform that mind about anything beyond the scope of the observable universe.

Why is it necessary to try to change someone else’s religious views? Surely everyone has the “right” to believe what they want to believe, don’t they? If someone wants to believe in a religious viewpoint (which can not be proven or disproved by science), why should science be manipulated & ‘bent out of shape’ with the express ulterior motivation of trying to “make” someone believe something else?
I doubt whether superstition can be driven out of people by using scientific reasoning either. We believe what we choose to believe, often regardless of observable evidence to the contrary! But so what?! If someone wants to believe in a superstition (& it seems rational to do so to them) what’s the problem? Why has the Richard Dawkins Foundation made it part of its purpose to rid the world of superstition?

It’s interesting that ...religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and suffering. are included in the same sentence. It’s almost as if the one inevitably leads to the other! Perhaps in the Foundations adherents’ eyes this is true!

Of course intolerance & suffering should be challenged & overcome if possible. No one wants anyone to suffer, after all. But the foundation seem to be putting religious viewpoints in the same league as superstition, intolerance and suffering, which is surely a step too far.

These are my ideas regarding the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science Facebook page in any case.

But the ‘story’ didn’t end there!...
What I read on the Richard Dawkins Facebook page, & the poster quote got me thinking about truth & truth seekers. I found myself wondering about truth: what it is, where it is to be found, & the nature of fact & truth.

What is truth, what is the nature of truth?
Proposition: Whatever is true (the truth) is something which is irreducible. Truth is always true, no matter what “angle” we view it from. Truth is something which is simple, & self-evident, although it may not be obvious. Truth is something that is not merely a matter of opinion, or a matter of interpretation. That which is true, must be true at all times, in all places, & in all conditions in which we see or view it. That which is true must remain true even if it is unobserved or undiscovered (yet!)
Truth is true regardless of the condition, disposition, beliefs, or biases of the observer.

Question: Can something be true even if it can not be proven beyond reasonable doubt to be true?

This is where God & religion lie, since the supreme being can not be proven to exist nor can he be proven not to exist. Certainly science can never prove or disprove the existence of God, for the reasons outlined above.

Since the Christian proposition includes that God created the universe & everything in it, including human minds, then it follows that nothing within the cosmos can be used to prove the existence (or non-existence) of anything outside of that cosmos. An observer wishing to have a definitive answer would have to exist outside the cosmos in order to be have the objective viewpoint needed to prove or disprove anything else outside of the cosmos, such as God. Human beings do not have that viewpoint, therefore it is impossible for a human being to prove or disprove the existence of God. It is also impossible for a construction of man’s mind (science) to prove or disprove the existence of God, since science is similarly limited & bound to the physical, temporal cosmos.

Interestingly, the Holy Bible never presents any ‘evidence’ to try to prove the existence of God. The Bible assumes the existence of the supreme being. That’s sensible, for the reasons outlined above!

Equally interestingly, the Bible book Ecclesiasties (written by Solomon, reputed to be the wisest man who ever lived) also never attempts to prove the existence of God... wisdom indeed!
Fortunately, for the religious adherent, there is no need to prove the existence of God, since His existence is a matter of faith. And foolish indeed is the religious adherent who tries to prove the existence of a supreme being who can never be proven to exist!

a note about being a seeker of truth
To be a seeker of truth, we have to be open-minded enough to seek truth where ever the search for truth takes us. If we are not comfortable to seek truth where ever the search takes us, then surely we are not really seeking ALL truth, in all places, regardless of what that truth might reveal.

To be an honest seeker of truth, we must be prepared to view everything, to see everything which can be seen & to hear all that there is for us to hear. If we seek to find the truth in all its forms, then we must be prepared to view what we think is the truth, what we hope is the truth, what we suspect is the truth. Equally, we may sometimes have to view unsavoury things, visit places or situations that we suspect may not be “true”, if only to satisfy our seeker’s heart that in that place (where ever it may be) we definitely will not find truth! It’s no good thinking that we won’t find truth in any given situation of place, unless we are willing to look there & find out for sure. We must be wiling to seek truth everywhere, after all it is possible that we will be surprised & we may find a truth in the most unlikely place: somewhere we never expected to find it. We must have an open mind & an open heart, whilst we are seeking truth in all its forms.

I think a truth-seeker simply wants to know what is true. A curiosity exists within a truth-seeker, to uncover the truth, wherever it may be found. I don’t think anyone who is genuinely seeking after truth is interested in ‘forcing’ their truth on anyone else, however, they may be excited by their personal discoveries & keen to share them with anyone who WANTS to hear about them, their search & their discoveries of truth. The bore is someone who ‘forces’ someone else to hear about their truth. If you insist on being heard, & ‘force’ the other person to hear your point of view, then you are in danger of becoming that bore!

What “tools” do we need, in order to become a seeker of truth?
We have mentioned needing an open mind & an open heart: to allow everything to be seen & to dismiss nothing “out of hand”, for fear of missing an element or form of truth which we might otherwise overlook. Surely to be a truth seeker is to want to find every form of truth, rather than merely that form which is palatable to us, in our current world-view?

Apart from an open mind & heart, what else might be necessary to allow us to embark on a voyage for the truth? What emotions, or states of mind would be useful, in a deliberate decision to seek after truth, wherever we look for it?

Honesty, integrity & courage.
Honesty & integrity within ourselves is needed, if we are to seek truth out. If we are not honest, then how can we know the truth when we encounter it? It takes determination & resilience though, to seek truth that may be unpalatable to us. That’s why we need honesty & integrity, to seek after truth that may not be to our liking, or which suits our previously established mind sets. That is why I admire truth-seekers, be they atheists, secular humanists, religious adherents, philosophers or whatever. Provided someone genuinely wants to find truth, then I’m all for them & they have my admiration! That’s why scientists who stick to recordable, repeatable experimentation (the scientific method) get a “thumbs up” from me.

What I dislike is anyone (scientists included) who steps outside of recordable, repeatable experimentation (true, fact-based science) & goes into the un-recordable, un-repeatable speculative (read “fantasy”!) realm of unprovable pseudo-science. Such people debase the noble sciences with their imaginings, speculations & unprovable theories.

It takes courage to be a truth-seeker. It requires courage (a very courageous person) to deliberately look at that which might disturb our carefully crafted assumptions & models of the “real world” which may or may not be true. Such deliberate deconstruction of what we thought was previously true must surely make us feel less certain, more uncertain; less confident, more unconfident. To deliberately place yourself in a situation or condition where you feel less certain, more vulnerable, as you seek truth, requires courage & determination. That, in my book, is also admirable.
Honesty is needed as we seek truth, honesty with ourselves, so that we are certain that we will seek truth, wherever it may be found.

Proposition: That the search for truth may take us out of any comfortable mind-sets, philosophies or mental concepts that we may have created, accepted or actively taken into ourselves, & agreed as being “true”.

If we know (or at least suspect) that the search for truth will carry us into unfamiliar “landscapes” (mind-scapes, concepts, philosophies or ideas as places we may not have been to before), & that this search or quest will probably make us feel destabilized & vulnerable (at least fro a time), we can see why it takes courage & determination to deliberately choose to do this, rather than simply remain in our comfortable assumptions... even if we suspect that our “world view” may not be entirely true... or at least ALL that is true.

Having a questioning mind
Questioning our own pre-conceived ideas of what is “true” will inevitably make us feel uncertain, unsure & lead to feelings of insecurity. Having a questioning mind & heart is also a necessary element of our truth-seeking natures. But these very characteristics are what have enabled the great scientists of the past & present make their amazing discoveries.

Realising that we need courage, determination & internal honesty with ourselves, in order to successfully navigate the unfamiliar, the uncertain, the “rocky road on the way to truth” we will come to 1 of 2 conclusions:

1) I can do this - I have enough courage, determination & internal honesty to begin my search for the truth.

2) I can not do this - I do not have enough courage, determination & internal honesty to begin my search for the truth.

Depending on which conclusion we come to, regarding our own nature, character & abilities, will determine whether or not we even begin the search for truth. If we conclude that we do not “have what it takes”, then we will not even begin our search for truth. If, on the other hand, we conclude that we do have courage, determination & anything else we may need to seek the truth, regardless of the obstacles, then we will begin our search.

Or perhaps the quest for “the truth” will simply grow & grow inside of us until it is SO imperative, so vital, so unavoidable, that we simply MUST begin that search.

What can we expect on our journey towards truth?
In order to choose to seek truth, wherever we may find it, requires that we stir any courage that we have, within ourselves. Truth-seeking may not make us feel better, in fact, it may make us feel uncertain, unsure, and destabilized. We all have a world-view: a concept of the world & our place in it. This is created by facts, opinions, ideas & things which we are exposed to. Eventually we form a harmonized view of the world, based on all these bits of information. So far so good! But what happens if, whilst we are seeking after additional truth, we find a truth that is at odds with our world view? Clearly the new information “doesn’t fit” into our view of the world, & so we have a mismatch. What do we do? There are 3 possibilities:

1) We discard the new “truth” & maintain our existing world view.
2) We discard our “old” world view, & adopt the new “truth” as our sole version of truth.
3) We try to absorb the new “truth” into our existing world view, if we can get it to fit in!

All of these possibilities are likely to cause us doubt, uncertainty, discomfort, etc, at least until we come down on one side or the other!

I think this is one interpretation of P. C. Hodgell’s comment: “That which can be destroyed by the truth should be”, seen at the beginning of this epic write! If the “truth” we have successfully internalised doesn’t stand up to the addition of newly discovered “truth”, then surely there is a mis-match somewhere. Truth ought to be harmonious, since it is true! If a fact, opinion, idea, etc is at odds with another piece of information, then surely we must conclude that one or other (or both!) must be wrong. In that case we owe it to ourselves (& in order to get a good night’s sleep!) to sift through the “old” & “new” truth & to find out just exactly where they all fit together.

It is quite possible that either the “new” truth, or the “old” truth (world view) will need modification, or complete abandonment, if we finally conclude that this is the best course of action. The more firmly held our existing world view, the more likely this analysis might cause us temporary uneasiness, doubt, discomfort, etc. But this is where we need that courage that I mentioned earlier. Not everyone has enough courage to examine a new philosophy or idea & it certain takes a lot of courage to admit to ourselves that we have been in error in our world view & to abandon it, in favour of a new truth that we have discovered. Clearly we would need a degree of confidence & certainty in the new truth, in order to do that. Personal courage, determination & a dogged striving for the truth is needed through the truth seeking process.

So, in discovering a “new” (to us) truth, we might find that it is at odds with previously held “truth” within our own minds & world-view. If a “new” truth is at odds with, or contradicts, a previously believed “truth”, then it is obvious that our world-view (previously harmonious & soothing to us) will be disturbed, fragmented, even destroyed, by this new information. Perhaps that is an expected (or unexpected!) facet of truth-seeking... that we may become destabilized, for a time, as we consider the validity of any new truth we discover.

What is important is the constant searching for truth. We must find out what is true.

That sudden upheaval of our world-view can make us feel very vulnerable & uncertain. This may (temporarily) overcome our inner courage, & send us scurrying from the truth-seeking arena, back to the “safe” (but not wholly “true”) haven of our previously maintained mental concept. Whether we remain in our original world-view (that soothing mental concept we have constructed), or whether we venture out once more onto the “rocky road” that seeks truth is determined by our levels of internal courage, & our need or desire to seek that truth, even if that process of truth-seeking (temporarily) makes us feel uncomfortable.

Our behaviour & actions reveal what we truly believe about ourselves & the necessity of seeking that truth. For the person who is determined to find the truth at any cost, nothing “in front of them” will be insurmountable. No feelings within them, no obstacle or difficulty en route, will be able to prevent them from finding the truth.

Proposition: We are unstoppable, if we believe we are unstoppable.

Converse proposition: We are stopped in our journey towards the truth, if we believe we are not capable of overcoming whatever obstacle “stands in our way”.

To deliberately put yourself on that “rocky road”, looking for truth, requires courage & determination. It is important to relies that the benefits of truth MAY NOT include our own feelings of certainty, security & the assumption that we will feel alright, at least whilst we are on the “road”. The benefits of truth, once that truth has been successfully integrated into our world view (or mental concept) of the world may very well be many & varied, & will certainly include a more complete sense of security, certainty & hopefulness. But it is important to note that the acquisition of “new” truth, especially truth which is at odds to previously held “truth” will inevitably make us feel uncertain & insecure, until such time as we can harmonies these disparate truths into a new, holistic world view. We might have a rude awakening if we believe that discovering any & all “new” truth will automatically & instantly make us feel secure, enlightened or complete! The truth is, it may take us some (considerable) time to harmonize our thoughts.

Once truth has been discovered, it should generate feelings of certainty, security & well-being, since we have agreed that truth is true no matter what “angle” we view it from. The very nature of that which is true; that which is irreducibly true, must generate feelings of certainty, since certainty comes from knowing that we have discovered that which is true; that which is not in error.

What might “stand in the way” of us going further on our “rocky road” towards truth?
Assumptions & pre-conceived ideas may stand in the way of us making a “break through” & discovering a previously unknown truth. If we have come to a conclusion about something which later we discover not to be true, then that thing may well distract us, or cause us to assume something which is wrong. For example, if we believe that there is not truth to be discovered in x,y,z place, then we will not look there, with the consequence that we may well overlook a truth “buried” in that very place. Perhaps it is wiser to assume nothing & to investigate everything, with a clear minded detachment, in order to maximise our chances of discovering all truth, in all places.

A “blind spot” is an unchallenged assumption, within our own mind (our thinking) which may be warping, distorting or changing the truth we see, into something which is less than true, a half-truth, or a distorted truth. We often have “blind spots” about ourselves, or about other people (prejudices) which will mean that we distort the nature of observable reality.

Conclusions
1) Hopefully you will realise that I am not a Luddite, calling for a return to pre-industrialised society!

2) Hopefully you will realise that I like science & that I admire truth-seekers who accurately use the sciences to uncover provable, repeatable truth about the physical, temporal cosmos. Science is not the problem... mis-use of science is.

3) I dislike anyone who hijacks science & tries to make it “say” something that it is ill-equipped to comment on.

4) Similarly, I REALLY dislike anyone who tries to propose a theory & get it accepted as a fact, when they know it is not. That is science dishonesty, a very ignoble thing in my book!

5) I admire all truth-seekers, what ever ‘tools’ they use. The search for truth, & the uncovering of truth is a very noble pursuit.

6) It takes courage, determination, honesty & integrity to even begin the journey o truth-seeking. I admire these qualities in anyone.


[1] Patricia "Pat" Christine Hodgell (b. March 16, 1951) is an American fantasy writer, artist and professor.

The War & eternal decision-making

Listening to Lord of the Rings soundtracks. Found my mind thinking of the eternal struggle we are all in. These are my thoughts:

1) To Christians who know we are in a battle: a spiritual war, for the lives & eternal souls of all people: keep fighting on, don't loose heart. Our general, Jesus the Christ, is pleased with your efforts. Fight on, don’t give up, no matter what we are facing.

2) To Christians who have forgotten that we are in a war with a bitter, determined, foul-playing villainous, evil enemy of our souls: wake up. Hear the Lord's battle cry. Strengthen your weak knees. Put on the full armour of God. Call other Christians to attention. Don't lower your guard for a second. The days ahead may be the darkest we have ever lived through, but take heart, Jesus has overcome the devil & the world. Our nation’s economy, our weather, our society, the very fabric of our world may be collapsing around us. But in the end Jesus’ reign will come to earth in totality. Don’t loose your faith or your hope.

3) To people who do not believe: in Jesus, the devil, the unseen worlds, or who are blissfully unaware of the intense spiritual battles raging in the heavenly realms... may God help you to see with new spiritual eyes. Re-consider your position. Re-consider your assumptions about this world.
All that we think of as being here to stay & permanent (money, power, health, government, nations, science, the universe) isn't eternal. All that we see, hear & touch in the physical world is temporary, it will pass away.

Recognise that which is truly eternal: Jesus the Christ. Even the battle of good & evil will one day come to an end, on the Great Day of Judgement. When that day comes, no matter what you have believed was “true”, we will all be "called to account". We will find that even if we didn't believe in Jesus, the devil, eternal judgement, heaven or hell, or anything which we couldn’t see or touch, was actually true.

On the final day of history, we will all be split into 1 of only 2 groups: those who have believed in Jesus the Christ & asked him to become Lord of our lives, & those who have not believed. The former will go to be with Jesus their Lord for ever. The latter will go where they (not God) have decided to go: away from Jesus the Lord of heaven... separation from all that is good, light, right & holy... separation for ever; eternal darkness & hopelessness. Yes, it is not Jesus who will decide your eternal fate... it is YOU. What you decided was “true” whilst you lived physically on earth will become the reality you continue to live out for the rest of eternity. Heaven & Hell is as “real” as this physical world we live in. More so, in fact, because they are eternal places, whereas this world, & all physical things will actually disappear & be destroyed following the Day of Judgement.

4) Now is the time to decide where you want your eternal, ever-lasting soul to live after your physical death. The decision is yours & yours alone. I urge you to re-consider your fate. Whilst you have breath you have choice. As soon as the breath of life leaves you, your decision-making comes to an end. Why risk your eternal soul... why not decide for yourself, right now, to accept the free gift of eternal life & ask Jesus the Christ into your life? All it takes is that one little decision & your eternal future is entirely secure. The devil will no longer have any legal claim on you & your life (as he does now) much to his annoyance! New life awaits you... just a decision away. And the benefits of that eternal life begin as soon as you make that decision too! Why wait?

5) One final point: we are held to account for our own lives. We ALL make a decision about what we believe, even those people we say they are agnostic, or atheists. They too have a belief: it’s a decision not to believe... which is still a belief! There is no escaping the fact that God holds us to account about what we have CHOSEN to believe.

You may believe that not making a choice at all is the answer... that this way you don’t have to make a choice! But we are not given an absence of choice, as a choice! We have to choose one way or the other... there are no abstentions in our “voting” for where we spend eternity!

You may choose not to believe in religion, all that eternal stuff, you may choose to believe in evolution, science, post-modern thinking, self-help, philosophy, the goodness of man, etc. Even if you choose not to believe in Jesus, the devil, religion, eternity... that won’t make  a blind bit of difference when the end of your life comes. You will still face the day of judgement, no matter what you currently believe to the contrary.

Therefore, the ONLY choice we actually all have is this: what do we decide is true about Jesus the Christ, the maker of heaven & earth? You can ONLY decide to be for, or against Jesus. Those are the ONLY 2 positions that we all can hold.

A Christian is someone who has decided to believe that what the Bible says is true; that they will believe in Jesus, even though they haven’t seen him. They have confessed their personal sin & confessed that Jesus is Lord. That’s what makes them into a Christian. It’s simple, really.
The ONLY other position is the decision NOT to believe in Jesus. ANY other world view, philosophy, religion, belief system, or thought process that does not hold Jesus the Christ at the centre is not Christianity. And remember, there is no middle ground, or abstention from this vote. To believe that you don’t have to “vote” is yet another lie of the Devil. You DO have to vote, we all do. The choice, & the consequence of that choice is all yours.

So the final, inescapable question is: Do you choose to believe in Jesus the Christ, or not?

Send me a message if decide to become a Christian. I’d love to hear from you, & to pray for you.

New “Pinterest” account for Bible Cartoons

I’ve joined the Pinterest website. What’s Pinterest? Well, if you haven’t heard, and “as it says on the tin”... Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard... you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

I’ll be using Pinterest to advertise & market my Bible Cartoons, of course! I’ve already created my first virtual pinboard, which shows my most recent work: my series on the Nativity story from Matthew's gospel.

Here’s a link so you can see all of the cartoon artwork on my new Pinterest board:
http://pinterest.com/biblecartoons/

What now? Plans for the future.

It's finished! I've drawn all the cartoons I've planned to draw for my series on Matthew's gospel and the Nativity story.

Here’s a link so you can see all of the cartoon artwork if you want to:
http://www.biblecartoons.co.uk/cartoons/famous-bible-story-matthew-2-the-birth-of-jesus

It's taken quite a few weeks to get to this point and now I feel a bit lost! I often feel like this once a big project comes to an end. I suppose I ought to plan another big multi-cartoon project when I'm getting near to the end of the current one... if only I was that clever!

This little hiccup has produced some good "fruit" though. I've taken time to dream a little & "think outside the box". I considered what Bible Cartoons might grow into, in terms of website developments, merchandise, sales, etc. It was brilliant to consider where we might be going next. Of course, only the Lord actually knows what will happen.

One of the ideas was to hold an exhibition of Bible Cartoons, printed onto large canvases. I think they would have a big impact on viewers, seen in large scale rather than on a small monitor screen.
I have plans for new mug designs, books, games, etc. There are also plans for new Activity books, colouring books, freebies... the skies the limit! Actually, money is the limit, since all this stuff costs a lot to produce! We’ll have to see if the Lord wants us to produce any of this stuff... the future of Bible Cartoons is in His hands.

Colour variations for Bible Cartoons

In November 2012 I started creating multiple versions of a single Bible Cartoon (BC.) Previously I have created a single cartoon, with shading, highlights, & other design elements, all working towards that one picture. As I was working on the ‘Matthew 02 - The Nativity - Scene 09 - Gifts’ cartoon, I realised that I could add various colour layers & create the same scene, but with quite different colour emphases. Here are the 3 variations of that picture for you to see what I mean:

Matthew 02 - The Nativity - Scene 09 - Gifts (Starlight version)

This version is what I had in mind originally for this scene. I wanted to create strong, cool, white highlights from directly overhead, produced by the starry sky. I have seen the effect of moonlight at night on a scene, where the cool light “washes out” most of the colour of objects. I was trying to achieve that effect, whilst still having the contrast of the warm glow of the cangle/torch/oil lamp in the stable, to counteract & contrast the cool starry light.

What to do?!
I created the initial colouring of this scene, & then added layers to simulate the cool starry light. I realised that this would “rob” the scene of its colour. I wanted to remain true to my initial design, which focussed on the strong tonal contrast of the starry light above & deep shadows below the figures & objects. I normally create side highlights & shadows in my pictures, but this design was a departure from that norm, which was exciting... how would it turn out!?

I was in a bit of a quandary though, as I realised that this high contrast, low colour scene would probably not be popular with anyone else! I think most people like my cartoons for their more vivid colours & I imagined that one without much colour in it might not be very well received.
Then it hit me: why not provide more than one version of the same scene on the BC website? That way I can remain true to my initial design (the starlight version) AND provide alternative versions, which may be more popular with viewers... & my buying customers!

Remaining true to my initial design & inspiration is very important to me, as an artist. Without that I am ‘merely’ providing a commercial product, which can rapidly become a rather soul-less way to operate & live! And I have NEVER wanted to live that kind of life, especially as an artist.
Of course this kind of artistic integrity is very important, but I couldn’t ignore the possibility that some/most/all other viewers of the scene might not like my starlight version! And I realised that it is also important to me that people view & buy my work... customers purchasing the work enables me to draw new scenes & keep the BC website “on air”. Without that patronage there would be no cartoons & no BC website at all, so the commercial importance of the scene didn’t escape my notice either!

Matthew 02 - The Nativity - Scene 09 - Gifts (Colour version)

This version concentrates on the colours of the figures, clothing, stable, animals, etc. The depth of the shadows & the high contrast of the highlights produced by the starry sky overhead is more subtle, and less dominant in this version of the scene. The warm glow of the cangle/torch/oil lamp in the stable plays an important role in creating a cozy feeling in the viewer. This is the version that I believe many of my viewers/customers will like. It should “tick the boxes” for many viewers, & hopefully achieve some sales too.

Matthew 02 - The Nativity - Scene 09 - Gifts (Blue version)

This was the third & last variation which I tried of this scene. I wanted to create a rich, turquoise layer which would sit over everything, providing a unifying colour throughout the scene. I like the way this came out, even though it wasn’t my initial design concept for this scene. That’s why I made it available along with the other 2 variations. After noticing the three wise men in the foreground, the warm light from the stable focusses the viewers attention on the Nativity scene itself: the arrival of Jesus in our world. I like the fact that this scenes’ most dominant feature is the birth of Jesus: the saviour & true light of the world.

Since this scene was uploaded to the BC website I have produced two more scenes in the Matthew Nativity series which also have multiple colour variations. I think this will become a frequent occurrence from now on in my designs. The two other scenes are:

1) Matthew 02 - The Nativity - Scene 12 - Flight to Egypt

2) Matthew 02 - The Nativity - Scene 14 - Return to Israel

Pray a blessing on malware writers!

Managed to get rid of a nasty virus on my PC yesterday (26/Nov/2012.)

Why do people like to inflict malicious software (aka malware) on people they don't even know? I’m sure there is some hidden reason. Someone must have done a study of this anti-social behaviour! But the reasons elude me.

Anyway, God asks us to pray for our "enemies" so here goes:

• I ask the Lord to bless all malware and virus writers, hackers and others of this cyber-destructive ilk with a big dose of self respect - surely they must not be feeling good about themselves, or the world they live in, in order to be so destructive.
• Lord, these people have amazing skills, talents & insights. They understand computers and what makes them “tick”, which is brilliant. Their problem-solving skills are phenomenal. Such talent... and yet they choose to use these fantastic skills to hurt people. That seems like such a waste of talent. Please help these people to see that it a waste of their time, skills and talents too.
• I ask the Lord to bless all malware and virus writers with a huge dose of respect for other people. Perhaps that would break the malicious pleasure they get from sending out these destructive programs into the world.
• Please Lord make their sense of “victory” or achievement seem shallow and meaningless to themselves, when they break into other people’s computers or send out any harmful programs.
• Please replace that destructive tendency with a more positive, constructive one. Help them to feel positive and to want to be useful and constructive rather than destructive. Help these people to turn away from using their skills to harm and turn instead to doing good. Then let them feel great about themselves for choosing to do good.
• Bless all malware & virus writers, hackers, etc with a conscience and the deep, irresistible desire to do good instead of evil.
• Bless them with peace, once they turn away from their evil practices.
• Bless them in so many brilliant and varied ways that they WANT to turn away from their destructive ways, and to turn their amazing skills towards benefiting people, instead of harming them.
• Bless them with "seeing the light"; the light of Christ.
• And when they change natures and turn away from their evil-doing, help us all to accept malware, virus writers, hackers, etc and to FORGIVE THEM COMPLETELY for their past evil deeds. There is great power to change in forgiveness and we confess that heavenly power over all malware and virus writers now. Help us to acknowledge their skills and abilities and to accept their changed natures, just as we know that you accept them completely, dear Lord Jesus. You show us the way in your offer of complete forgiveness for our sins and wrong-doing... help us to do the same.

Thank you Lord Jesus, Amen.

“Bad Day” mugs hit the streets!

My “Bad Day” mugs are in shops NOW! You can buy them from the BC website too, here’s the link: http://www.biblecartoons.co.uk/Mugs

It’s taken a while to get the designs finalized, printed & out the door, but finally they are available for purchase - Hurray!

It was great to take the first batch to a local retailer (the Manna House Christian Bookshop, in Northampton, UK) & see them on display in the shop.

Here are all seven of the designs... do send me an email & let me know which one(s) are your favourites, won’t you?!

“Bad Day” series: Jonah & Big Fish

“Bad Day” series: Daniel in Lions’ den

“Bad Day” series: David & Golaith

“Bad Day” series: Egyptian army in Red Sea

“Bad Day” series: Noah’s Ark

“Bad Day” series: Full Inn

“Bad Day” series: Adam & Eve

Christmas mug: Stable & Animals - the True Light

Wise men giving gifts - 3 variations

Here’s my latest Bible Cartoon offerings, 3 variations on the same scene.
The scene is part of my on-going series depicting the events of the Nativity, as told in Matthew’s gospel. This particular scene shows the wise men (were there 3?!) bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense & myrrh to the infant Jesus.

I produced 3 different versions almost by accident! I was playing about with different coloured layers in PhotoPAINT x4, which is the drawing/painting program I use to digitally paint these cartoon illustrations. I realised how different the same scene looks with different amounts of blue, shadow & highlight in each version. I couldn’t decide which ought to be the definitive version, so I decided to upload all 3... that way you can decide which one(s) you like!

Do send me an email & let me know which one(s) are your favourites, won’t you?!

Matthew 02 - The Nativity - Scene 09 - Gifts (Colour version)

Matthew 02 - The Nativity - Scene 09 - Gifts (Starlight version)

 

Matthew 02 - The Nativity - Scene 09 - Gifts (Blue version)

 

Richard Reed: The entrepreneurs’ job

Did you watch the recent Richard Reed - “Be your own boss” TV series on BBC3? I found it very interesting, because the questions raised in the show I ask of myself.

In Wednesday 10/Oct/2012's shoe, mr. Reed said, “You simply have to have a vision of what one day your idea can become. You've always got to be able to look up & look forwards and go, ‘one day this little tiny thing will become this big, huge thing.’ You have to have that vision; you have to believe; that’s the entrepreneurs’ job.”

What’s your vision for where you are & what you’re doing?
I’d love to know - please http://www.biblecartoons.co.uk/contact


What’s my vision for Bible Cartoons?
Good question!
I admit, I find that hard to define. You’d think it would be easy to dream a bit & think up things I’d love to achieve for/through the Bible Cartoons, wouldn’t you? I’m an imaginative, creative bloke too, so again, you’d think that would be exactly “my cup of tea”, or coffee, or peppermint flavoured squash, or whatever!

But my past has left me apparently unable/unwilling to dream a personal dream of success. I think I have been disappointed too often. More specifically I have disappointed myself too often by poor & inappropriate choices in my past, leaving me unwilling to dream for success in the future, because it is painful to keep dreaming & then sabotage my own chances of success!

If we succumb to temptation & “fail” ourselves too often then we have a weakness in that area, & that leads us to believe that we will probably fail again. Do you know what I mean? How unpleasant is that?!

On the other hand, if we can’t dream any dream (for fear of failure) then we will never achieve anything! If I can’t dream a big vision of what Bible Cartoons might morph, grow & develop into, then how can I aim for anything? I need that dream & inner vision of what Bible Cartoons could become, to carry me over the obstacles in my path.

It takes courage & continual effort to maintain your faith shields; to deliberately choose to believe that things will work out for you; that God wants to bless you... which I believe He does.


Taking what Richard Reed said in bits & looking at the opposite to gain insight...
“You simply have to have a vision of what one day your idea can become.”
If we don’t have a vision of what we want to achieve, how will we know if we are moving in the right direction?

When the going gets tough & you have a lousy day, that vision of what you want to do with your life may be all you have to sustain you on the road to success. Without it, you may well fold up under the pressure & give up altogether.

You are the best person to make your dream come true... with help from the Lord, of course!

”...You've always got to be able to look up & look forwards and go, ‘one day this little tiny thing will become this big, huge thing.’

That’s interesting... Richard Reed said we have to look up. Funny how we subconsciously associate “up” with God & heaven, even when the Bible says that God lives within us. We still associate looking “up” with positive thought & looking “down” with negative thought.

Anyway, I think there is enormous self-belief called for in mr. Reed’s statement. To be able to think & say, ‘one day this little tiny thing [your vision] will become this big, huge thing’... is vital. If we don’t believe that about our vision, then who will?

You can’t convince someone else of the validity of your vision if you’re not totally “sold” on it yourself. So we have to be certain inside ourselves that we will go all-out for the successful completion of our vision.

”...You have to have that vision; you have to believe; that’s the entrepreneurs’ job.”
If you don’t have that guiding, inner dream & vision of what you might achieve; what you’re going all-out for, then you don’t have a guiding, inner compass, that accurately points the way to go, even when the going gets tough; you get waylaid by problems & obstacles, or someone in your organisation (including you) temporarily lets you down.

We might fail in the attempt; set-backs are going to happen - that’s life.

But the true test of courage is what you do immediately after that set-back. True “failure” is only, irrecoverable failure if you get knocked down & you choose to stay down & don’t get back up & try again.

So, after typing all that, I’m off to dream a bit & come up with a plan to turn Bible Cartoons into the greatest thing I can imagine: an excellent website, full of brilliant, funky Bible-based cartoon illustrations & merchandise, which loads of people love, want & buy!

That’s a good dream!

What’s been going on lately?

Sorry I haven’t written anything for the BC blog lately. It’s been a very “bitty” few weeks. I haven’t drawn any more Bible Cartoons (BC)  - gasp, horrors! But I have been doing various other BC-related things. Christmas is rapidly approaching, & this is usually a very busy time of year for us.
The main project I am working on at the moment is producing 6 “Bad Day” mug designs. The idea is to have a scene of disaster from the Bible, like the flood, or the expulsion of Adam & Eve from the garden of Eden, with the words “And you think you’re having a bad day!” on the other side of the mug.

Here’s a photo of the first 6 mug designs I’ve come up with from left to right & top to bottom:

Jonah being swallowed by a Big Fish.
The Egyptians being drowned in the Red Sea.
Goliath being felled by David & his sling shot.
Noah’s ark being pounded by waves in the flood.
Adam & Eve being expelled from the garden of Eden.
Daniel being lowered into the lions’ den.

My next task is to get a limited print run of these mugs into local Christian bookshops & gift outlets, as part of our ‘testing the market phase.’ If I can prove that the designs are salable in sufficient numbers then hopefully I can convince  a Christian distributor to take these designs on & mass produce them.

I am also designing our 2012 Christmas cards.

We will soon see the 3rd Bible Cartoons Activity Book out in print. This one is based on the book of Exodus, with some very exciting puzzles, mazes & colouring pages for children.

I visited our church’s (Brixworth Christian Fellowship) youth group on Tuesday evening & told them all about my journey of faith & how God brought me to Bible Cartoons. We had a quiz, based on my cartoons where the children had to guess the story, with bonus points for guessing the book of the Bible too!

I’m also trying to figure out how to write code to allow customers to the Bible Cartoons website to be able to purchase a whole set of related cartoons in one go.

So you see, I am not being idle!

Parable of Lost Sheep Finished.

I’ve finished my 5 cartoon set of cartoon illustrations which depict Jesus’ short parable about the Lost Sheep - see below.

As I wrote in the notes which accompany these 5 illustrations, in order to demonstrate the importance God attaches to little children, Jesus gave the disciples an illustration in the form of a parable, which is a word derived from the Greek. verb paraballo, meaning to “lay by the side of,” to “compare”; a “likeness, similitude.”

In the same way as the shepherd went out looking for the lost sheep in the story, God (referred to as “my/your Father in heaven” in Matthew 18:10) is concerned about these “little ones” or children and does not want to lose any of them. In fact we are all God’s children, so we can legitimately apply the term “little ones” to each & every one of us.

Matthew 18 - Lost sheep parable - Scene 01 - Sheep pen

Matthew 18 - Lost sheep parable - Scene 02 - Searching

Matthew 18 - Lost sheep parable - Scene 03 - Found

Matthew 18 - Lost sheep parable - Scene 04 - Cherished

Matthew 18 - Lost sheep parable - Scene 05 - Return home

Bible Cartoon used at New Wine conference 2012!

I received an email earlier in the year asking me to design a Bible Cartoon to be used at the Christian New Wine Summer Conferences events (www.new-wine.org). I created the required crowd scene, which had Jesus in the middle, accompanied by Moses, Joseph and the apostle Paul, surrounded by a crowd of cheering children. Notice the 2 camels on the left which were specifically requested from my Christmas activity book illustrations!

The finished design was then transformed into a 4 x 2 metre fabric backdrop for the 3-4 year old “Pebbles” marquee, where about 600 children were entertained & received good bible-based instruction.

The lady who worked so hard on converting my design into sewn fabric (Jane B.) said, “Your faces are so cheerful that they were a joy to work with but I did find it very emotional working on Jesus' hands.” I can quite understand that, as you can see the nail marks on Jesus’ hands. I sometimes have a strong emotional reaction myself when I’m drawing the wounds on Jesus’ body for one of my Bible Cartoons.

I received this email from the 2 “Pebbles” leaders, after New Wine had finished:

“Hi Martin,
I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the art work you produced for the Pebbles banner.
It was fantastic. We had many many comments on the banner and the art work.
It certainly added the WOW! factor to the marquee.
We had quite few people ask about your art work and we referred them to your web site which we had printed down the side of the banner.
One lady who came into the marquee recognised your work immediately saying that their church had used your work in the past.
Once again many, many thanks for an amazing job.
Blessings,
April H. & Anna S.
New Wine Pebbles Leaders”

What a lovely email, I was delighted to read that.

The Bible Cartoons web address stitched onto the backdrop provided great publicity for us! The fact that one lady came into the marquee & instantly recognised the style of the artwork as belonging to Bible Cartoons is great... we’re getting known!

Here’s my design in black & white, with a photographs below of the finished backdrop - doesn’t it look great?! Well done to Jane B. who translated my paper design into fabric... such dedication & hard work!

 

Honesty is not dead!

I’ve just received an email from a German magazine called "Die Gemeinde", a monthly journal of German Baptists, which is published every 14 day to about 5500 people.

The email sender wrote that they wanted to use my Bible Cartoon (Matthew 13:45-46 - Kingdom of heaven like a pearl) to illustrate a bible story for children in the magazine... so far so good! Unfortunately they hadn’t read the copyright information I publish on the BC website, & they paid the "normal" price of £2 (GBP).

What was remarkable was the fact that the email was alerting me to this fact, & apologising - how brilliant was that! And wonderfully honest too!

I replied immediately, thanking the magazine emailer for his honesty. I explained that I would normally negotiate a price depending on the circulation of the magazine. I suggested the magazine could include the credit “Cartoon artwork supplied by Martin Young - www.biblecartoons.co.uk” which would make me happy & help to promote BC in Germany!

I think it is wonderfully uplifting that there are still people operating in this world who are honest.  As I wrote to the magazine emailer, “Thank you once again for your honesty, it really does make me glad & I’m sure that the Lord will honour & bless you for it.” I certainly pray that He will. Examples of this kind of upright & honest behaviour in business & life need to be applauded whenever we come across them, don’t you think?

Head cold... and email marketing?!

I’m suffering with a horrible head cold this week - yuck. Can’t hear properly, barking cough, bunged up nose, aching limbs, the hole 9 yards (or 8.23 metres if you prefer metric!) I haven’t really achieved much in terms of drawing & colouring Bible Cartoons, although I did manage to finish the Philippians 3 “Imitating Christ’s Humility” one, which is the first cartoon in that New Testament book of the Bible.

However, all is not doom & gloom! I am taking time to sip lemon juice & honey, which is nice! But apart from that, I am researching (on-line) Internet marketing. I’m wondering if it would be a good idea to create a regular news-sheet (bi-monthly?)which can be emailed to readers via an opt-in page on the BC website. That way I can remind people of my continued existence (!) & hopefully gather new viewers, readers & potential customers in the process. I can let people know what Bible Cartoons offers & keep people abreast of our progress & development.

That all sounds great... but there is a LOT to research & reading to do to make that actually happen! There are so many email management systems/programs out there... which one should I use? There are all sorts of anti-spamming rules, guidelines, etc to consider. Even creating an email list seems to take ages. Then I need to find a way to get people to opt-in to my newsletter, news sheet, or whatever it is. I looked into this several months ago & I gave up due to information overload & analysis paralysis... now I know why!

However, “nothing ventured, nothing gained” as the saying goes. So I’ll just have to trawl through all the on-line advice, information, teaching videos, & technical blurb & try to make a reasonably well informed decision about it all before I get better & am just back to drawing the cartoons... after all, once I’m better I won’t have time to look into the merits & pitfalls of email marketing!

Fear of failure... and success!

Which is scarier the fear of failure, or the fear of success?

The fear of failure is understandable, after all, who wants to fail, right? That can put you right off trying altogether! Although I have recently read & come to believe that failure is only failure if you remain failed! A single failure actually becomes a stepping stone to success, IF you get back up & try again.

But why would we fear success? I think that can occur if we realise that success brings performance pressure, at least in our minds. One success = an achievement, but then we wonder, "was that a fluke, or can I do it again"... whatever "it" happens to be. A string of successes is even worse, then we’ve “proven” that we are successful - arghhh! That brings even more performance pressure... once you're at the top you've got to try to stay there!

I wouldn't know... I haven't succeeded yet... but it makes me wonder what it could/will be like... what do you think?

Of course us Christians can take comfort in the following scriptural promises from the Lord God, our loving eternally present Father in heaven...

1) Deuteronomy 31:6 (ANIV)
Moses speaking to Joshua on God’s behalf, ‘”Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them (opposing forces), for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." ‘

2) Philippians 4:13 (ANIV)
‘I can do everything through him who gives me strength.’
That includes failing & getting up again, & overcoming fear of both failure & success!

3) 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ANIV)
Paul writting to the Corinthian church, ‘But he [God] said to me [Paul], "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.’

I’m sure there are a LOT more scriptures which refer to success & failure in the Bible. But that last one is noteworthy... because it suggests that even if we fail, that’s OK, because we are weak... that’s just human nature. And God is able to shine gloriously, even through our weaknesses. In that sense, even the failures (as we perceive them) can be seen as successes, since our weaknesses promote & glorify God! So there isn’t really a failure in a Christian’s life! How cool is that!

Marketing Jigsaw

This drawing is a metaphor or illustration of how I see & regard the Bible Cartoons as a multi-faceted project. It shows the various pieces of the metaphorical “jigsaw puzzle” like money, time, skills, etc, all in place. It is convenient for me to imagine each aspect of the project as a seperate piece of the “puzzle”, but it is also useful to see how they fit together to make up the whole “picture” of Bible Cartoons. The design came to me when my wife & I were on holiday in South Wales, in August 2012. It’s taken me this long to draw the picture & write the blog about it!

 

The pieces already in the “jigsaw puzzle”.
The pieces I have identified, which we have in place, in no particular order of importance or preference, are:

1) Faith - My Christian belief is important, as it provides the subject material for the Bible Cartoons. It has long been important for me to do something important & significant with my life, involving my faith. Graphic design, science fiction/fantasy illustration, & pretty much everything else I’ve tried didn’t “hit the spot” because they didn’t include my Christian faith in the “mix”.The Bible Cartoons Project does include it, & so I feel I have found my artistic & life’s niche. My faith also produces the drive to be creative & to keep going, even when things are not going so well!

2) Skills - all of the creative, imaginative & artistic skills that I have, which allow me to draw & colour the artwork. Also includes my interests in science, writing, organising information & the desire to research the Holy Land.

3) Love & Support - Here I am acknowledging the love of my wife, family & friends, which provides the support necessary for me to pursue this project. Without them I would probably not be able to carry on doing what I do. I also acknowledge the love of God as being of central, prime importance to me. I need to feel comfortable, secure & (reasonably) confident that things will work out OK, in order to continuously turn my attention to the artwork.

4) Desire - Without the drive & desire to keep drawing & producing cartoons, I wouldn’t get anything done! The desire, drive & self-motivation to succeed is of vital importance when you’re essentially a one-man band!

5) Technology & Equipment - Without my trusty PC & particularly the internet, it wouldn’t be possible for me to display & sell Bible Cartoons all over the world. 10-15 years ago this Bible Cartoons project wouldn’t have been possible, because the internet was in its infancy. I rely on the internet for the vast majority of my Bible research answers to; without that it would be much, much harder to produce the quality cartoons that I draw.

6) Money - Without the loving support of my wife, Bible Cartoons couldn’t have even begun. Now it is generating enough money to keep the website on-line, & we hope & pray for increased sales, which will allow this to continue for a l-o-n-g time to come!

7) Time - I recognise that the Bible Cartoons project is my full-time occupation, job, career, mission, ministry & vocation. If I had to pursue another paid, part or full-time job, then I wouldn’t be able to draw these cartoons. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to devote my time & life to the Bible Cartoons project.

8) Ideas - I seem to have an endless supply of imaginative concepts, ideas & pictures in my mind, which are the basis of my cartoons. One of the many ways God has uniquely blessed me is with a highly inventive & constructive imagination.

These are the 8 key pieces of the jigsaw which I have identified as being of prime importance. No doubt I could identify many other aspects or pieces which could also be included in the jigsaw puzzle.

What about the missing piece?
Notice there is a missing piece in the centre of the jigsaw puzzle, which I have identified as being...

9) Marketing & Promotion.

We have more customers this year than we had last year. New people are finding my cartoons via the internet every day. Customers regularly return & view/buy additional cartoons. For this we are extremely grateful. We have done little in the way of marketing & promotion, so really our thanks & gratitude is rightly directed towards the Lord God, who has brought us the customers we have. Having said that, we also believe that it is right & appropriate to take responsibility for the Marketing & Promotion of Bible Cartoons. It would be madness to simply sit back & hope that people will find our website & buy the cartoons. We need to be far more pro-active than that! That is why, in the illustration above, the marketing piece is missing - I feel that we are lacking the proper promotional piece(s) to complete the project mix.

Whilst I research marketing strategies on line & read books about it often, I still feel unsure of the best way to “get the word out” that Bible Cartoons exists. I send individual churches emails to make them aware of us, but that is a laborious process... there must be a better, more efficient, more cost effective way to reach many more church leaders, Sunday school teachers & interested parties than that! But that method eludes me... at the moment!

There simply doesn’t seem to be one sure-fire, all-encompassing method to reach all the customers we would like. I frequently write Twitter & Facebook articles, add new Blog articles (like this one) & we get referrals from these sources, which is great. But despite these efforts, we still haven’t got masses of Christian church leaders, teachers, youth workers, Evangelists, etc beating on Bible Cartoon’s cyber-doors!

Perhaps this situation is a reflection of every small (& large?!) businesses’ dilemma: it’s all well & good producing the most spectacular product in the world, but if no-one knows about it, you can’t sell it!

So the missing piece, as far as I am concerned is identifying & implementing a decent, growing, artistic, successful marketing campaign. If you are a marketeer who would like to suggest ways we can increase public awareness of this Bible Cartoons Project, then please contact me on email, I’d love to hear your ideas.

Insomnia & the meaning of life!

I couldn’t sleep 3 nights ago, possibly due to a strong filter coffee at lunchtime! We visited Beckworth Emporium for lunch, which was most welcome, but the coffee (though delicious!) probably overdosed me on caffeine. Even though earlier in the day we went for our longest road run ever ( 6.9 miles) & we had a busy day’s activities, I went to bed expecting to sleep easily all night... but it was not to be, for me at least.

Regarding Beckworth Emporium... I’m always impressed with the staff (number of, & friendliness) & the whole experience of visiting this garden centre & cafe/restaurant. There isn’t really anywhere quite like it around here. What often stands out to me is the clever marketing & branding going one quietly & surely in the background. I like a place that “knows itself”; what it is, what it isn’t, what it strives for, what it’s brand message is, who its customers are, & who it serves. There seems to be shrewd, inventive, decisive, clear branding & marketing going on behind the Beckworth Emporium centre, which stands out. I think I aspire to that same level of certainty in regards to my own efforts at marketing & branding Bible Cartoons. Certainly I strive to figure out how to “reach” more potential customers, whilst trying to figure out what those customers want from me. Currently I am trying to determine my blog “voice” style & how to “be myself” in the blog, which is all about authenticity, whilst keeping the fun, light-heated tone. Quite a balancing act! If only I could find the definitive way to reach more customers & provide what they want.

Anyway... back to the story... 3 nights ago I lay awake thinking about life & found my mind turning towards God, which happens a lot at night, when all is still... except my mind. My conclusion was that the cross of Jesus is everything. I’ve read before that it even splits history (in B.C. & A.D.) which a pretty cool way to suggest the essential & unavoidable influence of the cross on every aspect of... well, pretty much everything!

One of the things I concluded in my musings was that many, many things which God provides for our good, can & are counterfeited by Satan, to harm or enslave us. For example, God gives us technology to help us & Satan corrupts it, intending to make us slaves to it, like over-dosing on the internet, TV, smartphone use, etc. God gives us medicines to cure our diseases & Satan manages to get people addicted to it (drug-taking.) God provides us with relationships to encourage & comfort us & Satan turns some of them into co-dependence, abuse, etc.

But there is one thing which Satan can not corrupt, change, mutate or counterfeit for his evil uses & that is the cross of Jesus. That’s because, at the cross, Jesus sacrificed his life for each & every one of us. That sacrifice paid for our sins & opened up the way for us to have meaningful, intimate, eternal relationship with God the Father once more. That open & wholesome relationship with God is something which sin always damages & prevents. Sacrifice for the sake of others is something Satan would never want to be involved in. I doubt whether he even understands it, & certainly Satan’s self-centred, prideful nature would never aspire to self-sacrifice for the benefit of others. That is why Satan can not do anything about the cross of Jesus: it is outside his knowledge, experience, strategy & purpose.

I’m not one of those Christians who “bashes” Satan either. I believe Satan was created (by God) with the same free-will we humans possess. That means Satan had the same opportunity to either serve God (as he did originally) or to serve himself, which he is eternally engaged in now. In deciding to serve himself, Satan now tries to get people to change their worship away from God & towards himself. But even in doing that, I believe Satan is merely doing what God knew he would do. God is not surprised by anything! Now Satan does an important job: he provides us with a legitimate alternative to following God. Truly we have freedom of will: we can choose to follow God or follow Satan. Some people would say that they don’t follow anyone, or else they follow themselves, but I believe that this is actually the same thing. Unless you are actively following & worshipping God, then any alternative pursuit (though it may not seem like it to the person in question) is actually a matter of following Satan. I believe it really is as black-and-white as that.

The great news is, we all have the chance, at any point in our lives, to turn away from pursuing our own goals (which is really the same thing as following Satan) & choosing instead to become a follower & worshipper of God. Right up until the moment we die, we have that choice before us... how great is that?! We are never beyond hope.

For me (& countless other millions of Christians) it is GREAT & VERY reassuring to know that we have already made our choice & we are actively following God. It was, & is, at the cross of Jesus the Christ that I found the true meaning of life. At the cross I came to realise my need of a personal saviour, & I have not been disappointed. Now I am saved, & I have an eternal destiny to fulfil. When I die, I know I will be going to live eternally with Jesus the Christ in heaven. There is amazing peace & security in that.

And anyone, at any point in their life, can have exactly the same security & certainty that I possess now. All they have to do is confess their sin, repent of it (turn away from it) & accept their need of a saviour. Then pray a simple prayer & ask Jesus into your life. That’s it... then you are a Christian, with exactly the same certain hope, & privileges of sonship that I have. Cool!