Reflections on Refrigerator Art

Between the ages of three and five I drew crayon pictures for my parents, and they put my drawings on the refrigerator. Here are some questions I have about the candidacy of my productions on display in the kitchen:

1: To what extent did my background and education factor into the selection of my pieces?
2: How much did they consider my choice of color in relation to the overall room?
3: Did my reputation as an artist influence their decision to hang my pieces?
4: Were they interested in the resale value of the art?

Or if perhaps these factors did not influence them, what motivated them to put my pictures on the refrigerator?

My parents were not poor and could have hung a reproduction of a Michelangelo or a Van Gogh. Did my parents view me as more talented than these famous artists? Or more prestigious?

My opinion on the matter is this: my artistic capabilities at four (which unlike wine have not improved over time) were in all honesty pathetic compared to the abilities of any professional artist. Without the ability to provide my parents with any worldly distinction in my art, what did I have to offer them?

My answer? Love. For love does not view anything through the same eyes as the world.

So here is the urgent question which we must ask ourselves as individuals before God: what worldly distinctions do we have to offer Him?

Could we build a tower to the heavens? Perhaps, but this is nothing in comparison to a tower he could construct in an instant. Could we paint a beautiful sunset? Certainly, but one as lovely as the sunset?

Like my artistic experiences as a child I find myself completely unable to build, construct, or produce anything that would pale in comparison to a similar work done by my Father in heaven. So what do I have to offer Him?

If the world is like the refrigerator God has provided to show the best of works, what criteria does He invoke in making His selections? Is there anything I could contribute to such a canvas?

My answer? Devotion.

The best contributors ... the ones who work not in oils and pastels but in trust and obedience ... may very well seem pathetic and uncomely to most people. Perhaps the ones God is the most pleased with were those martyrs who laid their lives down in the name of Jesus ... only to hear people say, "Their life has ended so needlessly ..." And, "They have missed out on so much ...".

Such a critique is like a guest visiting our home who - perhaps in confusion about the pictures on our refrigerator - said, "You could really find some much better art than that." But my parents would refuse to have it any other way.

My chances of being famous in life are slim, and I'll probably never be rich. But there is one way of excellence in which I may find some hope of contributing something meaningful, and that is love.

Not A Tragic Hero

I often hear people ask questions like, "What did it mean for Jesus to give his life if he knew he was going to be raised again three days later? What does that amount to?"

I am sympathetic to this question because there is something great about letting go of one's dreams and really doing it. People often style themselves as tragic heros, but when you look closer they're not really willing to give up anything meaningful. They just want to complain about the possibility of giving it up.

So is there anything greater than a person who claims to give up something and then actually does it?

The first such candidate is Jesus. He willingly died for the sins of other people. While we often overlook his life of healing and teaching, the nobility in his act of sacrifice is not difficult to recognize. But from the perspective of the tragic hero, there are a few things that should leave us suspicious.

"I lay my life down and I take it up again."

Jesus went through great agony in the crucifixion, yes. But in Hebrews we read that he obeyed God for "the joy set before him". He expressed his sorrow while on the cross, but he wasn't hopeless. He found hope in entering paradise with a theif. He wanted his conspirators to be forgiven.

Unlike Cassandra, or Hamlet, or Edmund Dantes he doesn't cry out for justice. In fact, Matthew records that he "will not quarrel, nor cry out; nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets". Yes, he was a man of sorrows ... grieved that 'he played a song to which the Jews did not dance' ... but he also spoke about a blessed life, a happy life.

"Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting."

My take on the life of faith is that it does not pursue sacrifice as a way of appearing noble in the eyes of others. This is essential to understanding the life of devotion which does not ask to be compensated in any way (for indeed to dwell with God one day is better than to spend a thousand elsewhere) and yet believes that God will not hold back any good thing.

"If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames - but have not love - I profit nothing."
-Paul

"Go and learn the meaning of the words: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice'"
-Jesus

1-2-3 JUMP!

My mother in law is visiting, so we found a nice room at the Embassy Suites. My favorite thing about the place is the pools. One of Elizabeth's friends brought over her three-old-son, Clayton, to the pool yesterday.

I enjoy spending time with Clayton. I learn and relearn a lot about childhood when I'm around him. Sometimes I see him do something funny, and I take it comically, but then I remember how similar he is to me and I pause.

For example, yesterday Clayton was excited about getting into the pool. Then he put his finger in and shuddered. He watched the water for a minute. Then he went over to his mom and said, "I'm going to count to three and then jump into the pool." He looked enthusiastic. This was going to be the brilliant solution.

The ladies were taking their time getting in.

So Clayton went over to the edge. "One ..." He said confidently. "Two," he said slowly. "Three!" He shouted but did not jump.

I find it hard to know what people are thinking - especially children. Having some similar experiences myself as a boy, my guess is that Clayton was so enthusiastic about "using numbers" that he overlooked the work of choosing to jump into the pool. It's like, "Hey! I can count to three!" But what do these numbers, these ideas have to do with the decision part?

A friend of mine told me at work yesterday: "I don't mind listening to professors, but, honestly, I think gamblers understand life better than teachers do." And I agree. Life demands choices when everything can seem unclear. The hard part is we are responsible for what we decide.

But most people are seldom aware of their choices. So many things get blamed on habit or necessity. But kids aren't like that.

SK Journal Excerpt

Soren Kierkegaard wrote about a thing he called "subjective truth". Those who are new to his writings have had difficulty with this term, but he used it consistently within what he called his 'life view'.

This journal excerpt was probably written before he had a lot of his categories clearly defined, but the elements of his later writings were certainly there. This is a favorite passage of mine.

"What I really need is to be clear about what I am to do, not about what I must know, except insofar as knowledge must precede every action. It is a question of understanding my destiny, of seeing what the Deity really wants me to do. It is a question of finding a truth that is truth for me, of finding the idea for which I am willing to live and die.


And what would it profit me if I discovered a so-called objective truth; if I worked my way through the systems of the philosophers and was able to parade them forth on demand; if I was able to demonstrate the inconsistencies within each individual circle...-what would it profit me if I were able to expound the significance of Christianity, able to explain many individual points, if it held no deeper significance for me and for my life? ... What would it profite me if the truth stood before me, cold and naked, not caring whether I acknowledged it or not, calling forth an anguished shudder rather than a confident submission?

I will certainly not deny that I still believe in the validity of an imperative of knowledge that has an influence upon men, but it nonetheless must become a living part of me, and this is what I now understand to be the heart of the matter. It is for this my soul thirsts, as the deserts of Africa thirst for water."

Garff. Soren Kierkegaard. p. 58

Spiritualizing Language

Have you ever heard someone say something only to learn they were saying something else?

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis suggests people should stop redefining words to make them more spiritual. His example: long ago people were called "gentlemen" if they had land or money. Later people considered a gentlemen to be a person who 'acts like a gentlemen', i.e. they were polite.

So imagine there was a third party who heard so-and-so was a "gentlemen". How should he understand such a description? The poor man has no way of knowing what was said! He has to go and find out for himself who this person is.

So for the sake of academics and communication we should only use words to mean what the general consensus says they mean. Or scholards that teach at expensive schools. Right?

They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, `You will become free'?"
Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."
John 8

C.S. Lewis is a man of genius and understanding, but here his intellect fails to approach Jesus' style. Jesus was continually misunderstood because he used words to mean what he wanted them to mean and not what the crowd thought they meant.

"Destroy this temple and I will build it again in three days."
"Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."
"I have food to eat that you did not know about."

Jesus' spiritualizing of language breaks down the chance of knowing what Jesus said in an encyclopedia kind of way. Here a general consensus of scholarship will not be able to explain this "food" Jesus had to eat. Here a publicly understood law will never be able to stop "slavery". Here a doctrine will never put Jesus into our lives.

Quite simply, you cannot meet the real Jesus through a third party.
You have to encounter him for yourself.


You can find the original image here.