I’ve had the privilege of knowing a few artists in my time.  My uncle Arthur was an artist, and so is my sister.  I also had a favorite teacher when I was in High School who let me watch him at work sculpting wood.   Each of them was different in terms of the kinds of art work they produced, but there are some characteristics they all had in common.

One thing that always fascinates me is the sense of vision artists have, that imaginative ability to see one thing becoming something else.   It is amazing to watch a block of wood, or an empty canvas slowly taking shape and color before one’s eyes. 

Another thing that is wonderful to me is the intimate connection artists seem to have with the raw materials they are using.   A sculptor just seems to know what is and is not possible to do with the wood or stone he is using.  A painter seems so keenly aware of how the colors and texture of the paint will take shape on the canvas.

All of my friends know just the right tools - to get the effects they desire. They all just know the right strokes of the brush, or the knife - that will create what they see in their mind’s eye.  And finally, all my artist friends have the most amazing concentration - the single-minded ability to see their work through to the end.

I think it is these gifts that enable them to produce good art, but I think that isn’t all those gifts do.  I think that they also provide my friends with strength to keep going - to resist weariness, and the temptation to settle for less.  It’s about all their special abilities being connected to a passion inside them for the beauty that will grace their work.

I believe a parallel can be made between the work of an artist and the work of our church, and I believe the source of the strength is quite similar.  In the church each of us needs to work according to a sense of vision - a sense of one thing in the church becoming something else - something better. Each of us needs to have a handle on the tools - a realistic awareness of all the resources, human and otherwise, that we have at hand.   In the work of the church there must be a respect for getting the right things in the right places, which is all about having a clear sense of what goals are most life-giving for the church.  The good news is that as we learn to do our parts according to our passions and special gifts, then the result will reflect a special kind of beauty, which the scriptures call, the beauty of wholeness and holiness.