Sometimes we miss the art that is right in front of us

Van Gogh, Kafka, Bach, Thoreau, Monet, Vermeer…. 

They were all artists who died without having received the worldly accolades they craved and even deserved. 

I’m certain they spent sleepless nights at their craft and countless hours honing their skills only to be told that their work was worthless and less than beautiful. 

We look at their works now, paintings from Van Gogh, Monet and Vermeer, words from Kafka and Thoreau and nocturnes that soar, “Soli Deo Gloria” by Bach, and we wonder, shocked, how their gifts could have been overlooked. 

Sometimes we miss the art that is right in front of us.

Sitting in church the other day I reminded myself that the communion that Jesus shared with his displaces wasn’t part of a church service. I can understand how the youth today perceptive this and embrace this very reality. Asking, seeking, breaking the habit norm yet with a deep sense of reality that is before us. It was not formal and it certain was not preceded by a sermon or followed by a hymn. The bread He used wasn’t backed for the purpose of being memorialised, and the wine they drank was wine that would have been enjoyed anyway. They were celebrating Passover together with a feast that marked liberty and life. 

They had been through much together, strangers made God crafted family. They are sharing stories when the One at the centre of it all picks up a piece of bread and says it represents Him. Created for purpose, thrashed , milled, sifted, shaped, refined by fire, transformed into a gift of life. The bread is broken by hands made in the image and likeness of a meaningful God, a God who delights at the table. They eat the bread, each one pondering the depths of the words, “Lets do this together to remember why we exist”

The feast continues, the conversations return, sacred writings are read aloud. Liberty and life are celebrated again. When the last morsel has been eaten and last psalm read, Jesus raises a cup. “I’d like to make a toast” They all smilie and raise their cups. Four glasses of wine during the dinner - that’s the tradition. Four glasses all symbolising freedom. This is the last cup. It has meaning. It represents the freedom that will come with Messiah, a promise of restoration by God Himself. They are ready to recite words, say a prayer and toast to a future of peace. But Jesus lifts His cup and toasts to a new promise - of a life bigger than a Kingdom that can’t be destroyed and a peace that won’t be shattered or explained away. He says they’ll celebrate again. And He toasts to His own life, a life poured out to give life. The wine takes on new meaning. Created with promise, crashed to be given greater purpose. Quietly. they drink, every day of ministry and every word. He’ s spoken in the time they’ve known Him quick- stepping now through their minds. “Everything I do, you’ll do too. And more. We are in this together” 

At the table were doubters, questioners, lovers, haters. At the table were loyalists and skeptics. At the table were those who did it all right and those who did everything wrong. All were welcomed by the One who washed feet and opened blind eyes. And there, they were kept in a common place. 

……. Sometimes we miss the art that is right in front of us…… 

God creates life, we are ALL artists who share in the intricate work of creating people with God. It is about time we start seeing ourselves the way He does. 

Far too often we diminish the work that we do. We turn the everyday work of whatever role our shoes hold, into a list of tasks and when we don’t check off all of the tasks, we feel like we have failed. We preach lies to ourselves and insinuate that we would be better off if we were living like ‘The Jones” or having the perfect household like down the street, seeing the reflection of the perfect brood of impeccably mannered children. 

“There are no greener grasses, only different lawns. When it’s hard to show up because I hate my calling, its helps me to rehearse what I know for sure - God has made me. God is remaking me and God wants to come out of me in a unique way.” (Emily Freeman, A Million Little Ways,) 

The God of the universes has given you everything you need for life and Godliness and that includes those little challenges. I don’t know exactly who the artists were that Van Gogh and the others didn’t match up to during their lifetimes. What is true is that when the critics said they had it all wrong, they kept marking art. And all I know is that their art didn’t suddenly become more beautiful after they were dead. 

Their art was always beautiful, it just took the right eyes to see. 

You are an artist with a perspective and palate that only you can offer to the world. We do a disservice to all who cross our path when we try to emulate another. How do we paint broad authentic strokes on our individual canvas? 

Show up 

Show up human 

Show up authentic

Show up right where you are. 

This week I take I learnt something about reflecting on this…. remember that you - all of us - are making art, right in this moment, and though that art might be little recognised in your lifetime and seemingly mundane in the moments, it is nevertheless stunningly beautiful as long as you have the right eyes to see.