The memory of a game, called "Four Squares," which I often played in my childhood, lead me to this composition. I thought of the biblical passage where Jesus reminds us that if we are to enter into the kingdom of heaven, we must be like a child. The four squares also therefore represent the four gates of heaven, through which we will enter.

I began with the color yellow, because Jesus Christ was born as the Light of the World. The purple represents his royalty as well as his human suffering. The red is symbolic of the blood Christ shed for us on the cross, the green of the life God gives us here on earth and through the resurrection. The complimentary colors reflect in one another as such: There is suffering in light, there is light in suffering. There is life in blood, there is blood in life.

The seven white brush strokes along each side of the square represent the seven archangels who are found in many religions and denominations. The four sides represent the four archangels whose names appear consistently in varying religions and denominations. They are Michael (who fought Lucifer), Rafael (the healer), Gabriel (the messenger of the Messiah's coming), and Uriel (the archangel who accompanies us to the afterlife). The other three names of the seven archangels vary in different religions and denominations. My husband and I named two of our six children after the archangels Rafael and Uriel.

When I looked at the painting, as it was nearly completed, the song "His Eye is On the Sparrow," came to my mind. I then painted the eye in the center of the cross, as a reminder that God always has his watchful eye on us, no matter how small or insignificant we may feel. It is also a reminder for me to keep my mind's eye centered on Christ, on the great "I and I."

I offer this painting as a prayer of praise to God.