Whatsoever |
Whatsoever |
Life at the moment can seem very disjointed. Our interactions with people are often distant, sitting in our ‘boxes’ on a Zoom call. Our plans have had to be discarded or postponed and so much of the normal pattern or our lives has fragmented. I have been glad and surprised to come across three images that can help us grapple with these feelings of fragmentation and help to make meaning. Fragments of the patchwork. This rather sorry thing started life as a patchwork made from offcuts from dresses I had made. I wanted to create a cot blanket and it gave me something to do as I waited for my baby to be born. She arrived early so the cot blanket was not made. Years later I found what I had done and sewed it onto a cushion cover for that same daughter, now fully grown. The cushion was well used but gradually the stitching started to come apart and it was abandoned. Now I have it back with me - this poignant reminder of fragments and failings, falling apart and incompleteness. What gives meaning, for me, are the memories that this collection of fabric brings: recollections of past certainties, deep love and daily provision, a reminder of the ‘daily bread’ that we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer and God promises to provide (Matthew 6:11) Fragments of a palette I made this collage from scrapings from my painting palette. I have never been very good at keeping it clean and over the months it had built up to be a bumpy congealed surface that was getting in the way of further painting. I got a knife and scratched off the pieces of old paint and then realised that each was rather interesting and attractive. I stuck them down and when I had finished was surprised to see that I had inadvertently arranged them in a way that looked like a tukul - a round Ethiopian home. How wonderful that all these different separated pieces could become something beautiful and meaningful. How wonderful that individual believers (even though we are separated) are still being built into God’s dwelling, still functioning as his church (Ephesians 2:22) Fragments made beautiful Here is something wonderful. If you are looking at the picture on a screen it is probably larger than the real thing which is tiny, about the size of your hand (11.8x14.7 cm ). It was made with exquisite care and attention over 350 years ago and now hides in a corner of the National Gallery. In London Why this little painting is so inspiring? It inspires me because its craft, detailed accuracy and symbolism affirm that fragments can be beautiful. It also powerfully speaks to me of Jesus. Firstly its size. Just as this is so small, so was Jesus’s life, in human terms. It was not grand or loud, it was mostly small and hidden in an obscure part of the Roman Empire two millennia ago. Then, there is the symbolism. In the painting there are different ‘pointers’ to truth. The hawthorn represents death; the forget-me-not flower, remembrance and the transience of life; the butterfly represents the human soul and the idea of metamorphosis from human to divine. A white butterfly was a symbol of Christ. Symbols, parables and images were often things that Jesus used. He took real things in his hands, pointed out reality in the places he walked, and from these showed who God is and how he wants us to live. (...’consider the lilies of the field’ Luke 12:27-28) The maker of this painting took raw materials of oil paint and wood and by paying great attention he made something full of beauty and life. He had to observe carefully all the details of each part. This, amazingly, is what God does. Jesus’s days on this earth were filled with time paying careful attention to the needs of that moment. He could see through the crowds to the person who needed to hear his voice (Zachaeus and the woman who touched his cloak Luke 19: 5; Luke 8:43-45) and we know that the God knows the very smallest detail of our lives (even the hairs on our head : Matthew 10:30) and watches over us with deep love and attention. I am so glad to have discovered this little painting because it shows how a collection of fragments can ‘work ‘and can have meaning. There is a way of making sense of all the little things, bringing them together to make something new. In all disjointed fragmentary parts of life there is meaning and beauty to be found.
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WhatsoeverThe posts are 'postcards' on my journey through faith and art. The name 'Whatsoever' comes from Philippians 4:8 in the Bible : Categories
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May 2024
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