End glow -

with a layer of Kim Klassen's "Appreciate" set at soft light...

Top view - with Kim Klassen's "Appreciate" and "Elevate" both set at soft light

I so wish the symbolic meaning of thistles was more positive.  I have loved the royal hues - the purples with blue AND red tints and the backdrop of golds.  There seems to be a quiet regality to them - the proud way the unique blossoms stand erect on their stalks; the crown of thorns on their heads.  Couldn't they be symbolic of Jesus, instead of the curse of sin?

  And as I typed this, I had a flash, an image...Jesus on the cross, 

fully having become sin in order to pay the price of our sin...

crowned with the symbol of the curse...perhaps this is what my spirit sees when 

thistles draw me with their beauty - it is the beauty of His sacrifice...

Joining with others at Texture Tuesday