An unusual event happened during church this morning. Our senior pastor invited a highly talented high school senior to paint during all three services. Apparently he gave her no instructions except to create "something" that would reach its conclusion during the third service. To say it was fascinating to watch her work would be both a disservice and an understatement. Her portfolio has gained local recognition and her talent has earned her well-deserved college scholarships. Seated at the very back of the congregation, I could see that the people in attendance were torn between watching "Lisl" (not her real name) and paying attention to whatever was happening on the altar. When the pastor began his sermon, he acknowledged "Lisl" and took our attention from him to her, sort of like giving us permission to pay attention to her while she worked. Since her work was wordless, it was possible to keep track of her progress and still listen intently to what the pastor had to say, although it must have been challenging for him to maintain his thoughts and intensity with so many faces not looking in his direction.
As "Lisl" painted and I watched her create, I was struck by how her progress is not unlike that of the human experience of life. I am a work in progress. Like "Lisl's" painting, changing with each brush stroke, so I am changing, with every breath, step, thought, action and deed. I am not the same person I was fifteen seconds ago, nor would I want to be. I need to change, to breathe and to keep on breathing. My canvas is incomplete, devoid of true shape and contour. There are days when my canvas feels as if it has shape and definition then there are other days when my canvas feels and looks as if some tornadic activity wrenched it from its easel and rearranged it in some form unknown to mankind.
The morphing that I experience on a daily basis is a positive action because it means that I am alive! It means that I have an opportunity to right the wrongs I inflicted that day, to reverse any negative thinking I may have engaged in and to re-think foolish ideas that floated through my head. It means that I have been given one more day to utter words that need to be spoken and to banish words that might possibly leak out and create damage.
Unlike "Lisl", whose work should now be completed and ready for public viewing, I am incomplete and unfinished. I am a work in progress. Good thing. I have a long way to go.
Ancora imparo
