I would like to take a moment and introduce you to Liu Bolin.   If you look close, you will see him in each of these photos;

It has been said that the art of Liu Bolin, this desire to make himself invisible by painting himself into the stuff that surrounds us, created as a very real reminder of the harshness of the world.   One critic has said that his art is a reminder that despite your uniqueness, despite all those countless things that make you special, odds are you will be absorbed by your surroundings.   You will start to blend so that no one truly sees you.   You become inseparable from the stuff we treasure or the stuff we buy.

Critics have said that Lui’s art is a very stark criticism of the ugliness of the world. Me, I see a reminder in there too.

I am reminded that yes world can be bleak like that, you can get lost in the noise, the crowd, and the stuff.   These photos become a reminder to me, that I need to find and embrace those places where it’s harder to blend.

I need to find and treasure those places and those communities, and those realities where people matter, where uniqueness is treasured and encouraged, and our presence matters.

One of my favorite quotes by John Wesley, was “There is no personal holiness without social holiness, and no social holiness without personal holiness”

When I think about church being that place where we don’t blend in, I think of that quote and the reality that for us to be a Holy People, we need to be a communal people; we need to be willing to fight the blending, celebrate the uniqueness, and recognize that despite the diversity of this group, we all share the same divine seed – the same piece of God – at our core.

For me, there is peace in that.

For more on the artist: Visit http://www.liubolinart.com/