Artist: Judith McConkie
Title: We Speak of Your Endurance, Patience and Firm Faith
Medium: Watercolor and graphite on paper
Price: $3,000
Dimensions: 14 x 23 inches
Artist Statement: In 1880, 250 souls made a six-month journey – that was supposed to take just six weeks – through some of the most barren, arduous territory in all the American continent. It included blasting a 45o chute through solid rock and then a descent through the famous “Hole-in-the-Rock.” One young man in the company was James Monroe Redd. Shortly after arrival in Bluff, Utah Monroe went back to Saint George to marry Lucinda Pace. He was 21 and she was just 20. He then returned with his bride to Bluff where she bore nine children, only five of whom survived to adulthood. One of their children – Vivian Redd – became the great grandmother of my husband James. And at age 103, she attended our wedding reception.
Paul’s letter to the Saints in Thessalonica is one of the earliest known ChrisJan documents. It was written in Corinth in about 50 CE to the struggling converts. He congratulated them on their endurance, patience with one another, and their faith in the face of terrible obstacles. His greeting could not be more apt as a blessing for the aged Lucinda:
We . . . give thanks to God for you, . . . because your faith is growing ever greater, and the love of each one of you toward one another is continually increasing. . . . [We] speak of you with pride among the churches of God for your steadfastness [your unflinching endurance, and patience] and your firm faith in the midst of all the persecution and [crushing] distress which you endure (II Thess. 1:3-4, Amplified Bible translation.)
