Meaning
The Levite priests were ones who encountered the wonders of God in their everyday lives. They were chosen by God and set apart from the rest of the tribes of Israel to commune with God on behalf of Israel. They were God’s chosen instruments, God’s voice. Only they could enter the Holy of Holies. Only they could offer sacrifices on behalf of the people. Only they could eat of the covenant meals offered as sacrifices to God. But that was the old covenant. Now, in the new covenant, we are all priests of the most-high God. In 1 Peter 2:9, Peter writes: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light.” He is not writing to Levite priests but to early Christians throughout the Roman Empire - Jews and Gentile alike. In the former covenant, only a select few could be priests because of their lineage. In the new covenant, it is the same principle, but a different lineage. When Jesus died, God tore the temple veil from top to bottom, signifying that nothing was separating anyone from Him anymore. Then He called out. He called out to everyone who was separated from Him to come and enjoy His love. He is still calling, and anyone that responds to Him receive the title “Child of God”. That is our lineage - we were adopted into His family, chosen by Him to be His own. God is our father and now nothing separates us from Him. Before, only sons of Aaron could be priests and enjoy His wonders. Now, it’s the sons of God.
Like the birds in the painting who are rising out of the storm towards the light, we are called above our darkness, higher than our storms, and into priesthood. When the birds rise above the darkness, awaiting them is the light and all its wonders. When we respond to His call to come into His light, awaiting us is God in all His wonders. We get to enjoy all His love, all His goodness, all His power, all His hope, all His joy, all His peace – the list goes on and on and on. We get to discover all the mysteries of His heart. This is what is exciting about being His priests. All because He called us to be His. All because He chose us. He is so good, why would we stay in our darkness when we can have all of Him? All we have to do is respond and say yes.
Story
This is one of the first paintings where I started to develop my own style and try different techniques. It's one of the first ones where I really explored abstraction. I painted it at a restaurant in Redding, CA, as a performance. Because I was painting at a restaurant and it was supposed to be a piece that came together quickly, I felt a lot of freedom to explore; freedom which is reflected in the freedom of the birds. As I painted, I could feel their exhilaration of flying into the wonder of the unknown. This painting was a lot of fun to make and, I believe, it was pivotal to my work. Elements such as the dripping paint and the use of a palette knife are still reflected in my work today.