See the wonder
Tuesday, November 07, 2017
A couple of months ago we went to Van Gogh and the Seasons at the NGV.
There were a variety of people there – some were experts, some were rookies, like us…
and there were some rookies who acted like experts… also us.
It was a great exhibition, but it wasn't easy to appreciate the greatness.
There were a lot of distractions – people getting selfies, crowds pushing past you, people with screaming babies… (not ours, she slept through most of it).
There were people who were just 'on a mission' – to tick a box and say they’d seen it.
They just couldn’t wait to see ‘Sunflowers’ or ‘Starry Night’ – neither of which were in the exhibition. Their disappointment was my amusement.
There were crowds around the ‘famous’ paintings
and yet people still weren’t satisfied:
“Yeah I’ve seen it before.”
“It’s smaller than I imagined.”
“It’s not even that good.”
We are a crowd distracted and diverted.
A crowd desensitised.
Many looked at the amazing
and walked away unchanged.
They just couldn’t wait to see ‘Sunflowers’ or ‘Starry Night’ – neither of which were in the exhibition. Their disappointment was my amusement.
There were crowds around the ‘famous’ paintings
and yet people still weren’t satisfied:
“Yeah I’ve seen it before.”
“It’s smaller than I imagined.”
“It’s not even that good.”
We are a crowd distracted and diverted.
A crowd desensitised.
Many looked at the amazing
and walked away unchanged.
It happens with sea shores and sunsets
or a baby's first steps.
We can lose the wonder.
I couldn't help but think of the gospel, to think of Jesus.
Crowds saw the amazing
and yet only a few were changed.
In his first letter, John declares the amazing:
"See (literally "Look, behold")
what great love the Father
has lavished on us
that we should be called
children of God."
We can lose the wonder.
I couldn't help but think of the gospel, to think of Jesus.
Crowds saw the amazing
and yet only a few were changed.
In his first letter, John declares the amazing:
"See (literally "Look, behold")
what great love the Father
has lavished on us
that we should be called
children of God."
Have you been changed?
Maybe you’ve heard it all before; maybe this is the first.
Maybe you’ve wrestled with it and never understood it.
Maybe you find it comforting; maybe you find it confronting.
Have you ever seen the wonder? (Check out the video)
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