More From Jim Harris

I was pursuing a degree in art when I answered the call to pastoral ministry. I was 24 and had served four years in the US Navy, the last two on a ship in the North Atlantic. If you’ve seen the show Deadliest Catch and the ice coating the deck and railings of their ship, then you can imagine the conditions we were experiencing when our engine gave out and we had to have a new part delivered, as I related in my devotional.

As a pastor I’ve used the story of the ship’s triple-braided rope in many weddings over the past 45 years. I wish I could say that I have relied on God in all my relationships, but I’m divorced and remarried. Even more powerful than God’s help in relationships is God’s grace when we fail to avail ourselves of God’s help.

My art ability is a gift of God’s grace, and through it I try to be a blessing to others. Since 2015, I’ve been creating original paintings for raising funds for charities. My favorite charity is The Society of St. Andrew, a food gleaning and distribution ministry that helps to feed the hungry.

Every year since 2018 I have had the joy and honor of creating an original painting for the exclusive use of The Society of St. Andrew (SoSA) for their Alternative Christmas Card. The sales of these cards have totaled over $90,000 each year. Over the past six years these paintings have led to 12.5 million servings of food being shared with the hungry in the US.

I prayerfully seek God’s help in deciding the subject matter for each year’s card, and for every painting I create for SoSA there is a story. Often the story has to do with relationships in which God played a vital role, being the third braid of the chords that encircle our human connections.

One such connection led to the 2022 card, The Gift, featuring a young shepherd presenting his cherished lamb to the baby Jesus and his family. The young boy across from me at our church’s food pantry seemed hesitant to take any of the bread spread before him. When I offered him a loaf of French bread, he clutched it to his chest. At that moment I imagined the bread as a lamb and the child as a young shepherd boy offering his precious gift to baby Jesus. The great majority of the food pantry patrons are careful to take only what they need, being concerned for the needs of others. The power of giving for the sake of others is that it blesses us as much as it does them. It would not be easy to give away your favorite lamb. But look at his face, it is glowing as he shares his gift. This is the joy I feel in sharing my God-given gift to help end hunger.

2024 is the seventh and final year that I will be doing a painting for the SoSA Alternative Christmas Card. I feel it is time for another artist to experience the joy of that experience.

Pictured are the USNS Bowditch (the Merchant Marine ship on which I served in a 33-man Navy technical crew), an assemblage of all six SoSA paintings, and the painting The Gift with the young shepherd and his lamb. (All images are the copyrighted property of SoSA.)