—Regarding Heavenly Art!DO 212018/3/85

1. I THINK PEOPLE EXPRESS THE HAPPINESS & JOY OF HEAVEN MUCH MORE THAN BUILDINGS! As the old saying goes, "People are more interesting than anybody!"—And they really are more interesting than buildings! Frankly‚ even the natural scenery of the original creation is far more beautiful to me than so much of the Inside City.

2. WE'VE DONE A LOT ON THE CITY & THE WHOLE THING WAS DESIGNED TO PROVE A POINT ABOUT SPACE & WHAT THE CITY IS ACTUALLY LIKE—its size, shape, magnitude & comparison with the size of the Earth, then the type of buildings in it & all that sort of thing.—Which was definitely needed, because the churches have given absolutely no idea of any concept of the Heavenly City at all! We followed the actual Scriptural description in ours & that was necessary, but you've got to admit, it was a bit cluttered & crowded. Nevertheless, it served its purpose with all those different buildings, to kind of give an idea what it could be like.

3. MAYBE IT'S JUST A PERSONAL PREFERENCE THAT I HAVE, BUT I LIKE TO SEE SOFT RURAL OR WOODED SCENERY, LIVING SCENERY LIKE FLOWERS, TREES, FIELDS & PEOPLE! As you notice, that was one of my first favourites, soft scenery, so to speak, & soft people. In art, I think I really prefer that to the hard lines of buildings—although the buildings are very necessary & they're There & we had to show'm. But don't you think we've had enough of those Heavenly buildings for awhile?

4. PERSONALLY, I'M GOING TO ASK THE LORD TO LET ME LIVE OUT IN THE COUNTRY, BECAUSE I'M A COUNTRY BOY! The City is fine to visit & all that, but I was kind of glad I was up on the wall away from all the hustle & bustle down below. The more I think about it, the more I think that maybe I'd like to have a country house where I could spend part of my time.

5. I KNOW JAC MAY THINK I'M CRAZY ABOUT THAT HEAVENLY CITY & we sure worked on it for months, because it was important to show them what the City was like. But remember, although the City is mighty big, it's not near as big as the rest of the World! God made a whole lot more Earth than He did City! And if God wants to show man what a City really ought to look like‚ He's going to send a sample & we're going to have a City, but don't forget, He's going to multiply the surface of the land of the Earth about five times as much as there is now & there's going to be a whole lot more Earth & beautiful outside scenery than there is City!

6. THE CITY IS A NECESSITY FOR THE CONCENTRATION OF CERTAIN FACILITIES & THE SURFACES & OFFICES & HEADQUARTERS, WHICH IS A NECESSARY THING‚ & God's going to show'm how it can be beautiful‚ a lot more beautiful than any of man's cities! But if you just give me my preference, frankly, I don't know that I would be as happy even in a big mansion hanging on that wall with all that going on below as I would out in the country! Now that may be a shocker to you!

7. I WAS JUST ILLUSTRATING HOW MANY PEOPLE COULD LIVE IN THAT CITY! Because some may say there are too many people‚ billions, no city could ever hold them all! Well, I proved a point mathematically that it's very easy to house that many people!—But that doesn't mean they're all going to be living in There. Only certain people are going to be allowed to tread those streets & be in the City, & probably a lot of them will be living There. But from the obvious needs of the rest of the World during that period, probably many more times that amount of people are going to be living on the surface of the Earth, because it's a whole lot bigger than that City. You can figure it out mathematically sometime if you want to, just how big the City is compared to how big the World is, & I think you'll find the whole Earth can house a whole lot more people than just the City!

8. THE LORD HIMSELF SAID‚ "NARROW IS THE WAY & STRAIGHT IS THE GATE THAT LEADETH TO LIFE ETERNAL & FEW THERE BE THAT FIND IT! But wide is the way & broad is the gate that leads to destruction & many there be that go in thereat." (Mat.7:13-14) It looks like a lot more people are going to go the wrong way to begin with before we get them rehabilitated. And though the City is enormous & almost beyond imagination, I still believe we're going to be in the minority, believe it or not‚ & that the vast majority are going to be on the Outside on the surface of the Earth. That's why He has to make more land & less sea. Just think, only about one–fifth of the present World's surface is land, four-fifths is sea, so there's going to be five times as much land in the New Earth! That means there's probably going to be an awful lot of people out there! Remember, it says they'll have whole nations & kings, etc. (Rev.21:24,26)

9. THE CITY IS JUST SORT OF THE HEADQUARTERS & WE'RE THE RULERS WHO LIVE IN & COME & GO FROM THE CITY, BUT OBVIOUSLY WE'RE NOT ALL GOING TO LIVE IN THE CITY ALL THE TIME. Because how could we be of any help & service to the rest of the World & govern them & teach them & rehabilitate them & all of that unless we were living with them?—In a sense, somewhat like we are today, missionaries, & still missionaries in Heaven! And though we say that we could probably fly with the speed of thought‚ I don't know that we'd want to be flying back & forth every night! I think personally, whatever my job's going to be, that I'd sort of like to be near the job. I never did like to travel too far back & forth to work, it's a real hassle & a waste of time. Of course, being able to fly then & having a transporter system & all that would be a lot more convenient. But there is such a thing as space & area & distance & even some of God's Messengers had a little problem along that line. Of course, we won't have the Devil & his demons & imps there to fight us, but just the same, there are things to consider regarding distance & space.

10. WE SPEAK OF THERE BEING NO TIME, & IN ONE SENSE THERE IS NOT, IT'S THE GREAT ETERNAL NOW, BUT IN ANOTHER SENSE WHERE YOU HAVE SPACE, YOU NORMALLY HAVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME TO GET FROM ONE PLACE TO THE OTHER! The Lord travelled around quite a bit, even in His Resurrection body. He didn't spend all His time flying around or walking through the doors, but He walked around with the people, He walked on the water to the boat, He helped them fish‚ He cooked for'm, He lived a pretty normal‚ natural life when He came back. It wasn't too far out beyond any imagination or any conception whatsoever.

11. I THINK THINGS ARE GOING TO BE RESTORED LIKE THE ORIGINAL BEAUTY & NATURALNESS OF CREATION‚ LIKE THE GARDEN OF EDEN, the beautiful way God made it to begin with‚ only this time He's going to give man more room to live. He kind of had to restrict early man, & you're going to get a lesson pretty soon about the Geography of the Bible‚ why God made the lands the way He did & separated the continents & all that sort of thing. He had to do that to keep man under control & restrict evil, fallen man from destroying the Earth & destroying himself. It hasn't been until the present that they have such speedy transportation that has reduced the size of the Earth to where they can get from one place to the other in such a hurry.—And the hurrier we get, the faster we go, the nearer we're coming to destruction!

12. SO MAN COULDN'T BE TRUSTED WITH A LOT OF LAND IN THOSE DAYS—OR IN THESE DAYS! Look what's happening as he shortens the distance & the time & the space between places, he's also shortening his life & shortening the End! God is really not much for speed or too long–distance travel. The natural means of transportation of the ancient World only a little over a hundred years ago, plus what we're going to have in the Millennium & on the New Earth, is not going to be very fast—except for us who can fly! It'll be important for us to get around in a hurry to take care of different things because we're going to have a big job ahead! We've got a whole new World to rule over with people that still need help! There's going to be a lot more World & a lot more New Earth than there is New City!

13. SO LET'S NOT GET SO TIED UP & ENGROSSED IN THE CITY THAT WE CAN'T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES! I'm sort of giving you my feeling about the Future! We've had a lot on the City, at least two big Posters now on the City & its facilities etc., but there's going to be a lot more Earth & a lot more people outside on the Earth by far, & it's going to be a lot more beautiful Earth! And just between you & me, the more I think about that Mansion I drew just to show how many people that City could hold, that's fine for my Town residence when I come to the City to perform my functions or office or confer with Headquarters etc.‚ but frankly, my dream, is not to live in any city, not even the Heavenly City!—Ha! Does that shock you? My dream is to live out in the country! I'd like a nice country dacha, as the Russians call it, a nice country mansion out where I'm a little closer to my work! Of course, the Lord could change my mind when I get There & see it!

14. I THINK I'D LIKE TO VISIT THE CITY LIKE YOU LIKE TO VISIT A WORLD'S FAIR, but for peaceful, quiet serenity & living & beauty, I don't think any city, not even the Heavenly City, could surpass the original Creation of God, His original Earth & its beauty & the Garden of Eden! Remember, the original environment that God created for man was not a city‚ not even a village, but a Garden! So my idea of Heaven, as far as I'm personally concerned, is the country!—The beauty of the natural rural scene, the country & gardens, trees, flowers, grass, fields & rolling hills.

15. I THINK THE MOST THRILLING SCENE THAT I SAW WAS THROUGH THE CITY WALL! When I looked out over the New Earth it was absolutely gorgeous! That was the most inspiring, thrilling scene of all, & that was the last scene that I saw, believe it or not.—Just as though, "Well, look what you still have to look forward to!" It's like the Lord was taking me around, or somebody was, & said, "You've seen the City, but now look at the New Earth, look at that beauty out there, the kind of an Earth God originally created!"—But five times as much of it with five times as many people!—God only knows how many!

16. WHO KNOWS? WE MAY JUST BE THE NURSERY THAT'S HATCHING OUT THE EGGS TO PEOPLE THE UNIVERSE! We have no idea what God's great plans are for the future & what He's going to do regarding this whole Universe & all these stars & planets & everything, of which there are billions! What in the World did He make all that for, anyhow? This has got me inspired now!

17. SO MY IDEA OF HEAVEN, REALLY, IS THAT THE HEAVENLY CITY WOULD BE A NICE PLACE TO VISIT & HAVE YOUR TOWNHOUSE WHILE YOU'RE THERE ON BUSINESS & viewing the sights & buildings & exhibits & all that sort of thing, like the World's Fair, but frankly, when we worked at the World's Fair, I was always very happy to get back to my little humble mobile home, my little camper parked out in the quiet of the parking lot under a bridge! It was a real relief! It was really restful to get away from it all. It was thrilling & exciting to visit, it was marvellous to see all those exhibits & inspiring & educational & edifying. It was just out-of-this-World to be in the famous New York World's Fair of '64 & '65‚ but I must admit I was glad when the day was over & we could retire to our little camper only 26 feet long & 8 feet wide, crowded together‚ but it was real togetherness & oneness, sweet fellowship & home sweet home!

18. SO AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED‚ THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS GOD EVER MADE, HE MADE TO BEGIN WITH! I believe the City is simply going to be in existence as a necessity, such as some cities are today—they've gone far beyond necessity‚ sad to say—but as a Central Government & Central Offices, you might say, a Central Control Center & ruling center for the governors & all that. You do have to have a certain amount of centralisation, we even have it in our organisation‚ however we try to disperse as much as we can. We emphasise scatteration & dispersal & dispersion & spreading out! We figure we can do more good by spreading out than all bunching up in one great big building & one great big church by the thousands. I'm telling you, a church of 10‚000 would make quite a church! Any preacher would be proud to have a church like that, in fact they get too proud about it! But the Lord won't let us do that sort of foolishness.

19. WE ARE SCATTERED ALL OVER THE WORLD WHERE WE CAN DO SOME GOOD & WHERE WE CAN MINISTER TO PEOPLE, NOT BUILDINGS! But that City is sort of a necessary—I certainly won't say it was a necessary evil, because it's not going to be evil like the cities of this World—but it's a necessary necessity, that's about all I can say! And as far as buildings & cities go, it's going to be the most beautiful one, the most magnificent one, the most marvellous one that the World has ever known!

20. BUT I DON'T THINK ANY CITY, NOT EVEN THE HEAVENLY CITY‚ CAN HOLD A CANDLE TO THE BEAUTY OF THIS MARVELLOUS EARTH THAT GOD HAS CREATED!—And its magnitude, remember, is far beyond that City! That City is only 1500 miles high, which is quite a City as cities go, but this Earth & the gorgeous New Earth that we're going to have will be the same Ball, the same size & everything but resurfaced like they do some of these roads sometimes. Well, the Earth is going to be resurfaced & will have five times as much land & probably more people than ever lived on the Earth before!—With all the people that have ever lived, or nearly all of them living here, it's going to be something!

21. AND REMEMBER, THIS EARTH IS NOT 1500 MILES HIGH, IT IS 8,000 MILES HIGH!—8,000 MILES IN DIAMETER‚ 25,000 MILES IN CIRCUMFERENCE! So when it comes to a comparison between the City & the New Earth, I'm afraid the New Earth has got it hands down!—As for size & area, & as far as I'm personally concerned, for beauty! The City is as beautiful as any City can possibly be, but it's still a City & it still has to have buildings.—Although they're all useful & have necessary functions etc.—Jac ought to know, he helped me build it! We took months to design & try to depict it the best we could. But as far as I'm concerned, I still think the New Earth is going to be far more beautiful than even the City itself! The City is going to be the most beautiful City that ever was & ever will be, & as beautiful as a City can possibly be. Even the interior floor is more like the country outside, mostly parks & that sort of thing, beautiful!—At least that's what I saw.

22. I THINK LONDON WAS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITIES I EVER VISITED BECAUSE THEY HAD SO MANY PARKS!—And the traffic there was quiet, the quietest traffic I ever saw in my life! It's against the law to blow a horn there except in an emergency, so hardly anybody ever blew a horn. So it's a beautiful city, & to me, beautiful people, really! The British people were very wonderful people. But no matter how beautiful, as far as I'm concerned, the most beautiful city in the World with the most beautiful parks & buildings & everything else couldn't even begin to be as beautiful as the Earth itself, God's original Creation, particularly when it all becomes like the Garden of Eden & not just one little spot! Think of that!—And filled with beautiful people!—At least we trust we're going to be able to make'm beautiful people!

23. SO AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, PEOPLE ARE STILL MORE INTERESTING THAN ANYBODY! I love the outdoor scenery, & you'll notice most of the pictures I've been picking are beautiful outdoor scenes. We worked long & hard on the City & the buildings & those scenes, but we're trying to sort of get away from that now. They've had enough of that, I think, & I really think they need to see more of the beautiful, gorgeous, magnificent, enormous outdoor New Earth! So that's just the way I feel about it. And as far as I'm concerned, though I may have that Townhouse for business, so to speak, I'm looking forward to having a country villa out by some lake like some of these we've been depicting, without too many people around.

24. WE'VE LIVED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MUDDLE FOR TOO MANY YEARS NOW & I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING AWAY FROM IT! Right now we're kind of bound to the cities by facilities & transportation & communication & convenience, so I'm really looking forward to the New Earth!

25. ALL MY LIFE I'VE TRAVELLED & BEEN IN THE OUTDOORS, & I LOVE TO TRAVEL BECAUSE I CAN BE OUTDOORS! If you've read anything about me at all, I was an outdoor boy & I loved the outdoors! I loved the woods, I loved the rolling hills, I loved the farm, I loved the beauty of God's Creation‚ His original creation, & I don't think anything could be more beautiful, not even the Heavenly City! Is that heresy?—Ha!

26. ALL MY LIFE, EVER SINCE I WAS A LITTLE KID, I LOVED THE LAKES & THE WOODS & THE FORESTS & THE FIELDS! I was always pretty much of a loner & I was always out hiking around & exploring & fishing or boating or hiking or climbing or whatever, you've read it, I liked the single sports & I loved God's Creation.—Whereas everybody else was all bunched up fighting each other & contesting each other & involved in confrontational sports & in contending sports, competitive sports‚ which is competition & competitiveness & is one of the curses of this Earth today! I like to get out where it's peaceful, serene & quiet, in the beautiful marvellous soft scenery, soft creation, living things that God made outdoors! I love it! I love God's original creation! I'm looking forward to when He recreates it again for the whole World just like the Garden of Eden in all its beauty!

27. AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, IF YOU WANT MY MANSION IN THE CITY, YOU'RE WELCOME TO IT! I'LL TAKE THE COUNTRY!—Ha! Remember William Branham's dream about Heaven?—He had a little cottage out in the country & he had his old rocking chair just like he used to have. He was a country boy, you know, very country!—In fact, he really talked like an old country hick, which he was. But he was a mighty power, a man of God‚ & he did a great work for the Lord & even had a part in mine. So I'm sure he's working for me even now & probably enjoying that little cottage out in the country. (See No.897)

28. SO MY FEELING IS, WE'VE WORKED LONG & HARD ON THE CITY, BUT ACTUALLY, WHEN THE TIME COMES THAT WE INHABIT THAT CITY OR LIVE IN IT OR USE IT OR WHATEVER WE'RE GOING TO DO WITH IT‚ OUR BIGGEST JOB IS NOT GOING TO BE IN THE CITY! Our biggest job is going to be outdoors on the surface of the Earth with five times as much land & probably many times more people. So I'm looking forward to that, personally. I love these country scenes, rural scenes. Artists used to paint so many of them in the good old days of realistic art. What did they call those scenes? Rural usually infers a farm & that sort of thing. What's the word I want? What do they call it in art when you've got outdoor scenes of lakes, trees & flowers? There's a word for it.—Pastoral? Well anyhow, that's the kind of scenery I prefer. To me it's more restful & peaceful & gives a feeling of serenity.

29. TO ME, THERE'S NOTHING TO COMPARE WITH THE BEAUTY OF GOD'S OUTDOOR CREATION‚ THE NATURAL BEAUTY OF THE NATURAL EARTH which is going to be restored in all its fullness & perfection like one gigantic garden that far surpasses anything in the way of beauty! It's far bigger, for one thing‚ has more people in it for another thing, more work to do, more help to be, & as far as I'm concerned, the New Earth has got it hands down over the City! The Lord gives a beautiful description there of the City, & it was necessary, & apparently it's going to be necessary. We've got to have a Central Government, & the Government's got to operate in a Central Headquarters, that's obvious. So if you've got to have a City, that's just about as pretty a one as you can possibly have! But as far as I'm concerned, the outside Earth is still going to be the most beautiful & the best, & personally for me, I would prefer it as the best place to live!

30. I WON'T MIND HAVING THAT TOWNHOUSE TO BE CLOSE TO OUR BUSINESS WHEN WE'RE IN THE CITY, BUT I'M GOING TO ASK THE LORD TO GIVE ME A COUNTRY DACHA‚ A COUNTRY ESTATE, something like one of those old English baronial estates where you almost have miles between you & your neighbours. We could have more of our own Family there then with a few cottages around here & there. After all, if He put Adam & Eve in the Garden to tend it & to keep it, we're going to still need gardeners & maintenance men!—How about that? I wouldn't be surprised if we're still going to need maids & helpers & all kinds of people to help us!

31. I DON'T THINK LIFE'S GOING TO BE ALL THAT DIFFERENT! It's going to be a lot more beautiful & less trouble & less evil & all that sort of thing & much easier & more supernatural, but it's still going to be a lot like this life. This is just a little taste of Heaven already! As far as I'm concerned, we've got about as much Heaven as we can possibly get on this Earth right now! Where could you have more beautiful places to live & more beautiful people to live with & more beautiful life & work & freedom & pleasure & everything you could possibly imagine? We've got it! I don't think anybody's got anything on us!

32. WE'VE SEEN SOME OF THOSE MOVIES ABOUT RICH FAMILIES WHO HAVE ALL KINDS OF MONEY & HUGE PALACES & MANSIONS & EVERYTHING THAT MONEY CAN BUY, & THEY STILL HAVEN'T GOT HAPPINESS! They've still got all kinds of troubles & woes & heartaches & heartbreaks & sicknesses & pain & death & all the rest.—Whereas we've got it made! We maybe get a little bit sick once in awhile & have a few afflictions, & I'll die eventually, but nevertheless‚ it's nothing like the Hell they've got! They're just living Hell in style, that's all! As far as I'm concerned, we're living Heaven already & in pretty good style at that! So we've got a little Heaven right here & now & about as close as we can get to it till that time comes.

33. THAT REMINDS ME OF AN OLD SONG THAT ALMOST COMES BACK TO ME ABOUT THE COUNTRY, A BEAUTIFUL OLD SONG. It's just on the edge of my consciousness, I'm sure it'll come back. It's about the country, etc. "Oh, for a day in the Fall of the year, with the bright sky arching o'er! And a bright hued trail through the bright hued dale where the birds sing Autumn lore! Oh, swinging along the open road, all in the Fall of the year! Swinging along‚ the open road, under a sky that's clear!"—Etc.‚ etc.! That's my idea of beauty & joy!

34. THERE'S NOTHING I'VE EVER ENJOYED ON THIS EARTH ANY MORE THAN TAKING MY WALKS WITH MARIA, especially when we were living out in the country where we could walk out on the country roads & through the woods & through the hills & beautiful places like that. I just think we have never enjoyed anything so much—outside of His work, of course—for our get–out & our recreation. That's where I love to be! We always took long walks‚ & that's my idea of a little bit of Heaven right here & now, to be able to get out & see the beautiful Creation of the Lord, God's marvellous‚ beautiful Heaven on Earth, His creation!

35. YOU GIRLS ARE MY HEAVEN TOO! I'M LIVING WITH ANGELS RIGHT NOW! A woman is the most beautiful thing in the World to me. As far as I'm concerned, she was God's crowning creation, the final ultimate, the most beautiful thing He made! But outside of that, the rest of the natural creation, all the beauties of this Earth, the natural beauties, the growing, living things, plants, trees, flowers, animals & all of the beauties of His natural creation to me is the next most beautiful thing to a beautiful woman!

36. THE EARTH IS OFTEN CALLED MOTHER EARTH & SYMBOLISED BY A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN HERSELF!—BECAUSE SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL! Even a tree reminds me of a beautiful woman! So if you Artists want to draw the most beautiful things I could possibly think of, just stick a gorgeous beautiful woman right there in the beautiful, natural outdoor scenery, & you've got it!—Just like some of our Posters we've already got.

37. THERE'S ONLY ONE HEAVENLY CITY, BUT IT'S SMALL BY COMPARISON TO THE GORGEOUS HEAVENLY EARTH! And to me, the beauties of the New Earth are to be even more desired, as far as I'm concerned, as far as beauty's concerned, & with beautiful people. Those are the living things! Living things are the most beautiful things in the World to me, living people & living creation! That City & its buildings are beautiful, as beautiful as they can possibly be, & they will be a necessity for some reason‚ to have that central Headquarters & Offices or functions or whatever they are‚ even Exhibitions & a place to visit & all that, but it's not the whole World, it's a very very small part of it, extremely small compared to the size of the Earth & all the beautiful land & beautiful people! So let's kind of stick to that!

38. IN THESE LARGER POSTERS I'VE GONE MORE FOR THE BIG PICTURES WITH NOT SO MUCH IN THEM.—Bigger, more beautiful, a little simpler, with central subjects & in some ways fewer subjects, so that you're not cluttering things all up where it becomes great confusion instead of great beauty. So let's emphasise the beauty of God's original Creation‚ including naked nature in all of its beauty of nakedness, including naked women! Hallelujah?—Naked men too for you girls, as naked as we're allowed to have'm.

39. I SAW A … GIRL … WEARING ONE OF THOSE SHEER WHITE SEE-THROUGH SPARKLY MATERIALS THAT LOOKED SO MUCH LIKE THOSE I SAW THERE! It was just amazing, & it looked so beautiful on her! The material is white, & yet it's see-through, & yet it sparkles! Of course, it's indescribable because it's almost like a robe of light, a robe of lights! It's white, yes, that's the only way the Prophet could describe it, but it's more than that, it's white light! It didn't hide too much of the beauty either, so thank the Lord!

40. LET'S REVEAL THE GLORIES & BEAUTIES OF GOD'S CREATION, SHALL WE?—EVERYTHING FROM THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD TO BEAUTIFUL WOMEN—& MEN! God bless you! So we want to keep the City & the buildings in the background from now on, in a very small part if necessary, just like we have in some of these pictures we've had already.

41. "MILL LAKE" IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE! The most beautiful thing about that whole picture is the mother & baby, as well as the other people, then His natural creation, His Garden of Eden, with the City in the background. The City is there & we have to have it—I can think of quite a few reasons what for‚ because He's got to have some place to Headquarter—but as far as I'm concerned, no matter how beautiful it is, I think His original creation has got it all beat! The living creations of God are the most beautiful of all! Amen?

42. LET'S STRESS THE BEAUTY OF THE LIVING, SHALL WE?—LIVING THINGS! To me, living things are the most gorgeous things that God ever made. I don't think even buildings built by God could surpass the beauty of His living flesh & His living Creation! The buildings are just sort of a necessary thing that's gotta be for the purpose of function & government. But to me‚ the beauty of His living creatures is the greatest beauty of all!—Especially you gorgeous women! ILY! You were His crowning creation!

43. WELL, THERE'S MY CONCEPT, ANYWAY, & YOU CAN TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, WHATEVER YOU THINK‚ BUT THAT'S MY FEELING, MY OPINION. Maybe some people prefer the City‚ but personally, I prefer the country. My idea of beauty is one of those beautiful country estates with a farm & garden & animals & grassy hills & trees & flowers & lots of beautiful people. Maybe that's a bomb‚ a shocker! I guess you'd call this talk, "I Prefer the New Earth!"—Ha! I think the New Earth's got the Heavenly City all beat!

44. I HOPE THAT DOESN'T MAKE JAC FEEL BAD AFTER ALL THE HARD WORK WE DID ON THAT CITY, BUT FROM NOW ON WE'RE SPECIALISING IN THE COUNTRY! The City's still there, & we can keep that in the background a little bit‚ but I don't want to make it the central theme all the time now. I don't want to make the buildings the most conspicuous subjects. I like soft flesh & soft scenery‚ soft loving hands, not hard rocks!

45. HE REALLY IS A MARVELLOUS ARTIST, I'M JUST AMAZED HOW HE CAN DRAW LIKE THAT! I can talk about it but when it comes to drawing it, you know what a mess I am! I can see it in my head & I can visualise it the way I like it & the way I want it to be, but God's given the Artists the talent of how to put that on paper, & I'm sure glad He has! We couldn't have done without'm! They bring my visions into reality! So thank God! Think of all the things that are Heavenly!—And don't forget the children! There's hardly anything more Heavenly than children!—Except their mothers & the gardens that they live in.

46. SEEING ALL THESE BUILDINGS KIND OF HELPED ME TO CRYSTALLISE MY OWN THINKING, REALLY, to try to figure out & just really redefine my own concepts & to really search. Kids nowadays are all trying to find out who they are, blah blah, "Who am I?" Well, I'm trying to find out what I like! I'm kind of like the old coloured lady when they asked her what unction was, she said, "I don't know what it am, but I sho' knows when it ain't!" So sometimes that's how I find out what it is, by finding out what it ain't!—The same with the art. Sometimes we don't really realise it until we see it! PTL! GBY! ILY!—Please let me have a Farm!—OK?

Copyright (c) 1997 by The Family