For Calvin Seerveld, engaging the arts is part of living faithfully as a Christian. In Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves (Piquant Books, 2000), he calls us to practice redemptive artistry -- art that brings hope and healing to our troubled world. With over 70 illustrations, Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves brings together word and image in a rich discussion that will encourage and challenge the artist and give Christian communities a renewed vision for the arts. Seerveld is determined to "let God's people know ... of our biblical calling to give artistic leadership in our culture, and learn to make a joyful noise and color for the Lord that will give unbelievers pause, and put cups of artistic water into the distraught hands and feverish mouths of our generation." Artists have a voice in the culture, and what a sad omission if there are none to speak out of the rich tradition of the Christian faith -- truth-tellers whose understanding of life is planted firmly in the biblical story. At the heart of Seerveld's book is the notion that art is a gift -- not only a gift to the artist, but a gift to the entire human community. In our unsettled world, this gift can carry hope and healing in ways that will surprise us. Art gives us a glimpse of what is yet to come: a new heaven and a new earth. - John Franklin, Executive Director of Imago http://stoneworks-arts.org/stoneworks/archives/359