As exciting as it is to live in the 21st century - with all the advances in science, arts and technology - doing so comes with its own unique conundrums. Ones that cannot be solved by a computer, robot, or machine. Or even in a test tube. The seemingly simple yet very complex issues the human brain grapples with are far beyond the capability of a microchip, and on an entirely different level.

Assailed by an onslaught of sometimes way too much information, and often crippled by its unsavoury and unsatisfactory nature, we wonder (as Hamlet did) whether to be or not to be.

To do or not to do.

To want or not to want.

Whether to say, yes, no, maybe, perhaps, or even just not know...

After all, it isn't a sin not to have the answers and be comfortable acknowledging as much.

Countless Gen Xers will one day realise that there are and always will be questions that Google, Bing, Yahoo and Wikipedia cannot answer. Then along with baby Boomers, millennials, and those spared a moniker, come to understand that we are either galvanised or paralysed by both trivia and profundity because we are made in the image of a loving God. Everything and everybody matters to Him, and only He knows the answer to what ails each person.

When I came across this old photo of my father, I was tempted to go full-throttle Photoshop on it to repair fifty years of wear and tear. Healing brush at the ready, all I could think was restoration!

It was like I was five again; dazzled by the myriad of colours in my giant paint box and wondering which shade of yellow best matched the sun. He'd laugh and say, "YumYum, if you can't find the colour you want, you know you can always mix your own! Think of the possibilities..."

I find that apt today especially.

On this one day of the year that we are forced to think all things resurrection, I choose to also think of all that we could embrace and achieve...

Re-education.

Re-dedication.

Regeneration.

Renewal.

Rebirth.

Revival...

Possibilities only because of great sacrifice and grace.

So, no need for any feeble attempts at airbrushing on my part. It is Christ alone who heals and makes new. How best then to speak of the hope I have in Him?

Yet also remember the artistic genius of my Dad who would have been ninety-two today?!

A pop of colour: to further signify that God is faithful and does keep His promises.

Even in death.

Then and now.

"I then saw what looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure in the shape of a human. From the waist up, it was glowing like metal in a hot furnace, and from the waist down it looked like the flames of a fire. The figure was surrounded by a bright light, as colorful as a rainbow that appears after a storm. I realized I was seeing the brightness of the Lord 's glory!"

Ezekiel 1:26‭-‬28 CEV

N.B. Shout out to Andy Warhol for sweet inspiration!