Considering Lillies
Ambition and the small act of creation...our cultural values surrounding commercial success confuse and obscure the meanings of making simple works of art. At least they have for me.
This morning, as I sat in the five o'clock hour, nagging God about my recent malaise, thankful that the clouds are breaking up, I resolved to sit quietly and wait, expectantly, to see what God might say if I sincerely said something to the effect of, "Okay, whatever you want." I didn't get a verbal answer, but some things began to happen in my mind that I paid attention to, that are the beginning of what is going to prove to be an important, if not life-changing, dialogue.
I won't go into all the details, but a single image impressed itself on me, and as I watched it unfold in my mind, it seemed familiar. It was a flower. A purple flower that I can't name, but that was simple, sitting easily in a box-like structure. The box was filled with dirt, and the plant was a single stalk, waving easily in a breeze. But there was no question but that the flower was inside somewhere, not out in the lawn.
But then the image backed up in time...at least that's how I read it--and now there was the box with just the dirt, as if the dirt were waiting. And now both images were side by side, and it struck me that the flower was a new thing in the world, a simple, near wasteful expression of beauty, but one that had deep implications for God's life in the world. The word's "cultivation" and "nurture" came to mind, and all the connections with images of gardens and artists that have been running through my mind for so many years came rising up. And I considered what these images were not: they were not images of vast gardens, no Louis XIV monstrosities, and indeed, the flower sitting there in my mind's eye was likely to be cut down and forgotten after its brief life.
What do I get out of all that? It's not hard to see, really. The single act of making a thing for the glory of God is a precious event to be nurtured and held close. The world may never judge such flowers as worthy of reward or praise, but such offerings to God are worthy of love, and meaning. How close we come to selling our souls without ever knowing it, thinking that to do a bigger thing is to do a better thing, not really believing the Christ when he says mustard seed size is all you need.
Let pride and ambition go as we tease the single stalk into raising it's beauty in praise.
Heading for the windflowers...
8:00:36 AM
