The Master Artist

Last night I found myself amongst college students with sketch pads, families on an educational outing and older adults enjoying the cultural opportunities of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. My wife and I each try to get some personal time for ourselves each week. I took a couple hours last night to head to see some art.

While I thoroughly enjoy going with my family, it was refreshing to go by myself. I could take the time to read about pieces of work without having to rush on. I could stop and make a quick sketch. I could listen in on one of the art lectures. (Not that I didn't still rush myself a little to try and take in too much in the little time I had.)

Admittedly, I'm more into classical art than modern. I am impressed by paintings that look like a photograph. The details of some works amaze me. I am humbled by the genius exhibited in a brush stroke in the hand of a master. I am also envious. I wish I could create paintings with such amazing detail and artistry (I would love to be able to make sculptures or other works as well).

God refers to us at various times as a piece of His artwork--often as a work in progress (clay in the potter's hands). That means we have to let the Creator have His way. If we resist what He is doing, we end up a marred piece. We're flawed, unless we let the Master finish His work. That's not easy: we wait and we wait, we go through trials, we give up our selfish wills in order to be more workable.

But if we let Him have His way, we become something beautiful. Too often I can stare and marvel at a painting my Van Gogh or Monet or Renoir, but I look down on someone (making too much noise or dressed in appropriately) in the gallery with me. And so I need to let the Master Artist work on me until I get to a point of seeing the beauty in all of God's works, more so than I do by masterpieces done by human hands.