A Different Perspective

For years, I’ve been in love with Claude Monet’s artwork.  I’ve enjoyed his impressionistic visions of his beautiful gardens, lily pads dancing across the canvas.  While I’ve always wanted to see his work in person, the opportunity has never been available for me…until last week.

I learned earlier this year that San Francisco’s De Young Museum was hosting an exhibit of 50 pieces of Mr. Monet’s later year’s artwork, and I quickly made plans to purchase tickets.  And this last week, my dream came true.  I took Chris, Peyton, and my mom to San Francisco and spent two hours staring at some of the most magnificent paintings I’ve ever seen.  When my vision filled with the first canvas as I turned the corner, it was blurred with tears.

Seeing his art up close was vastly different, however, than I had imagined.  The brush strokes were broad and sweeping.  Hardened blobs of oil paints were noticeable.  The images were almost unrecognizable.  It was fascinating.  For a brief moment, I was a little disheartened.  But as I stepped back and took in the pictures at a distance, the images transformed into the Japanese bridge and the weeping willows.  It was all about perspective, and it was breathtaking.

We sometimes look at ourselves and our circumstances in that same way.  We critique our flaws and our situations up close.  This perspective allows us to see the tiny flaws in our design.  We focus in on the details of our failures and our defects.  We dissect ourselves based on our desire to scrutinize who we are and where we’re failing.

But imagine, just taking six steps back and, voila.  The perspective changes!  We don’t see the failures anymore.  We don’t see how incomplete or broken we’ve become.  What we now see is what God created—His masterpiece.

God knew what He was doing when He created you.  What appears under close inspection to be a hodgepodge of random strokes is truly a perfect design made by our great Creator.  He doesn’t make mistakes.  He doesn’t see accidental angles or an uneven canvas.  He sees His greatest work….you.

~Erin