The great artist is the simplifier. --- sent to friends on Fri, 02 Aug 2002
Julia Murphy's follow-up
on "The
great artist .." on Mon, 05 Aug 2002
Greetings to my family & friends. My mind is
still spinning between spending last week on the YAM Jamaican mission
trip
and returning to our sphere/reality this week.. In preparation
for
the trip, I read St Therese of Lisieux's book "a Story of a Soul".I
would
highly recommend this short simple book, especially for the way she
shows
one how to approach sainthood or even our daily paths through
small
steps or ways.
It takes things as small as grains of sand/dirt to make a mountain....
Upon returning from the mission trip, my mother handed me a men's
daily
reflection book. Thus far each day it has been insightful, and somehow,
the msg each day has been right on to the daily struggle/steps I've
encountered.
Yesterday's msg was quite direct, especially as I consider
myself
as an amateur-untapped artist but also one who often over-thinks
things.
The reflection was so like St Therese's msg and direct to my heart
that I felt I had to share.:
" ' The great artist is the simplifier' - Henri Amiel
Just as an artist creates through simplification, so a
man's recovery process grows and deepens as he simplifies his
life.
This isn't easy to do in our fast-paced world and high-powered
world.
We have often complicated a problem by our way of thinking.
Sometimes we take pride in how complex we can make something
seem. We look for hidden meanings when the truth is on the surface. We
give long explanations for our actions when none is called for. We
suspect
a person's motives when nothing is lost by taking him at face
value.
We take on a battle when we could just as well let is pass.
Most of us don't think of ourselves as artists. Yet we
are each given a profound, creative opportunity - to fashion a
meaningful
and worthwhile pattern in our lives. As we seek to do the will of God
today,
it is as if we are taking a lump of clay and creating an image from
it.
As I go about today's activities, may I find ways to make it a simple
and
creative expression."*
* From Touchstones, A Book of Daily Meditation for Men, Published 1986 by Hazelden Foundation, ISBN: 0-89486-394-0.