Monet shows me the complexity of a view. He sees and is able to record the variances. His perspective from above, or on the water, or from afar, looking down and then the remarkable measuring of differences on similar subjects – the different times of day, the ways the light plays on things – it is fleeting and yet he is a picture of Go Slow. He was still. He studied. He noticed. He stopped. He examined. He noted. He valued. He recorded. The remarkable way he recorded snow – snow with colors and light dancing. The heaviness of the London air. The reflections on the water. The breeze. The glistening, the nuances.
I feel the tug. The go slow and be still. The take it in from different vantage points. The places to steal glances and settle into the delight. The fleeting, changing, never the same. How do you catch it? How do you not miss it? I feel an urgency to not be urgent. I feel compelled to be slow. I feel obligated to take it in and not throw it up. I do not know. I can not say. I am wanting to see what God has to say. I am waiting to hear you Lord.
The “gray” day is not. I see the rustle in the vine leaves on the fence – they are playful in the breeze. The tan, sand, cocoa, it dances. And the bits of gold and green – the softest, lightest and the darker, browner green, they are crisp, shriveled, dry and crackly and yet they dance. I hear the singing – see a flicker, but it isn’t him. The flicker – full of color – black and white and reddish orange – and then I spot the starlings lined up on the wire “tail-less” just a way to compare to the blackbird and his longer tail.
How often do I do that when I compare? Taking the noteworthy and fitting it into some other truth by way of understanding or explanation. How often do I stop listening or think I know? How ugly to admit. If I cherish the words I share, ought I to also cherish others? Or at least stop and be still and listen fully without processing, flailing, measuring and winnowing and cataloging and organizing – How much easier to just listen and ask questions? How much easier to just be still and take it in, really listening for the heart of the matter.
I see the sky. It isn’t gray, it has blue and white. It is mixed and separate. The sun lights up some of the white and the other side has bits of pink or lavender, but that blue, there is a beauty in the blue. The berry tree has bits of red. The starlings have come to eat the juniper berries. They are blue. There is so much to notice in the details. That is true with you Lord.
Proverbs 3:5-10 (TPT) Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go. Don’t think for a moment that you know it all, for wisdom comes when you adore him with undivided devotion and avoid everything that’s wrong. Then you will find the healing refreshment your body and spirit long for. Glorify God with all your wealth, honoring him with your very best, with every increase that comes to you. Then every dimension of your life will overflow with blessing from an uncontainable source of inner joy!
I didn’t know Monet created the lily pond and studied it and captured the images over years with changes to his own vision with cataracts. The Monet collection I was able to see in Italy was just the bit. The larger collection I saw yesterday exposes his innermost, his yearning to see truth in nature, the truth that is steady yet fleeting, constant yet changing. The images, it takes breathing, stopping, looking, listening. It is full.
I rush through and pass so much but what is the truth? The truth is in the lingering, is in the studying, is in the going slow and taking it in. That is the truth. I want to set my sights on you God, on your way, your truth. I am feeling overwhelmed. It is really big and really important. I am in awe and yet not relaxing in it. I wonder on the pot of flowers – painting? coloring? sketching? How Lord? What Lord? I want your way. That is enough. My more than enough – the connection, the synergy, the realization of all to see. Lord show me.
Excerpt from Loving and Faithful