Blessed Paradoxes: The Beatitudes as Painted Prayer

by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton

In this unique presentation, the poetry of Barbara Crafton and the paintings of Dee Rhodes interpret the paradoxical nature of the Beatitudes in unexpected and insightful ways.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0819217638
• ISBN13: 9780819217639
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Church Publishing
• Length: 36 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.8" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful and Encouraging

I received this book as a gift, and I ended up giving a copy to a friend's mother who was dying in the hospital. As a life-long sufferer of depression, I find the artwork to be a mirror reflection of what the soul experiences and of the joyful hope we have in the promises of Jesus Christ. The poetry is also good, even for those of us who don't get a lot of poetry or who are not particulary fond of the medium.

Rich, Profound and Disturbing

The Beatitudes have to be the richest paradoxes in literature, whether from biblical or extra-biblical sources. There is a freshness in the approach of this book, both with the paintings and the poems. There is also a disturbing immediacy. This is not some elusive, high-toned but irrelevant posturing - it is a rich revisiting of some of the richest wisdom of all time, and startlingly relevant to today. The book is a quick read, but the poems and the paintings earn a long and thoughtful contemplation. The paintings are not a style that would normally draw me, but somehow work with the poems to enhance them, turning the mind to deeper layers of meaning. Altogether a wonderful book that I wish I had discovered years ago.