At first glance I dismissed the painting Consider the Lilies by Makoto Fujimura as a simple monochromatic painting featuring a lily seemingly hiding in the background However the painting came alive when I learned it was actually painted with more than eighty layers of finely crushed minerals in a style of Japanese art known as Nihonga a style Fujimura calls ldquo slow art rdquo Looking closely reveals layers of complexity and beauty Fujimura explains that he sees the gospel echoed in the technique of making ldquo beauty through brokenness rdquo just as Jesus rsquo suffering brought the world wholeness and [... more]