WB 477
So the first comic in this week’s three-comic page is designed to poke fun at the Artificial Intelligence Art trend, but it feels like that trend only lasted for about 10 days. Maybe you noticed some friends on social media about a week and a half ago share all these super cool portraits of themselves, and maybe you just missed it because it’s novelty is shiny and cool but quickly fades, you know, like a seed planted on rocky ground. Anyway, I had this idea that it would be funny if Martin Luther and John Calvin posted these epic AI pics of themselves but John Wesley couldn’t figure it out and his picture was really stupid. By the time I finished drawing it, I realized nobody was posting AI art on social media anymore.
Baber ident 300
Every week I put time into creating new art for an audience, but it’s just comics…not meant to be fine art displayed on museum walls. The comics medium really appeals to me as both an artist and a consumer because I love that someone puts so much heart and soul into sharing a moment with you, a comic that you can read in a few seconds, and if it does its job well, it hooks you. You think about it later in the day, or share it with a friend who has the same weird sense of humor as you.
When I was a younger Christian, full of zeal and evangelistic fervor, I had these grand ideas that my witness would be so bold, so big, that I could make this huge difference in the world. I didn’t have a specific vision of what that would look like, I just imagined it looking more like Thor or Gandalf than well…reality. Now, I think I better appreciate the importance of small and meaningful influence, like a woman working yeast into the dough.
“I wonder if we might pledge ourselves to remember what life is really all about–not to be afraid that we’re less flashy than the next, not to worry that our influence is not that of a tornado, but rather that of a grain of sand in an oyster! Do we have that kind of patience?”
-Fred Rogers
What small and meaningful influence do you recognize in your own day-to-day? Who is slowly influencing you for the better? It might mean a lot to mention that to them. And don’t be too hard on yourself if it feels like you’re not making as big a difference as you had hoped to. Focus on what is in front of you right now. In this moment, how can you be the kind of person Christ calls you to be?
P.S. The other two comics are bonus Christmas comics from years past. John Wesley’s mother, Susanna, believed that children should “fear the rod and cry softly.” That’s all I’m gonna say about that.