Sometime, as an artist, I find that I am not fully aware of what God has put in my heart until i see it there on the canvas. Such is the case with this painting, “Walking by Faith”. I took some photos on the way home from work on a particularly beautiful summer day then later that week I decided i could try out my new shades of greyscale paint on them. I had also previously had the idea to try a color pop painting and this is the point when all those ideas merged together. And isn’t that the way life is? You gather information and ideas all day, every day in your daily comings and goings. Each thing seemingly disconnected at those moments but still meaningful enough for you to remember them when the crucial time finally comes. Most of the time you don’t even realize the moment is crucial until it has passed and you look back on it and what you have produced as a result. It’s like that popular quote, “life can only be lived forward but understood backward”. If you had stopped at each of those moments and looked at just one piece of the puzzle it would seem meaningless. Especially if you didn’t even know you were putting a puzzle together which is often the case with life. The devil can convince you that each piece is worthless. But what if you open your mind enough to consider the possibility that something might be guiding your every footstep. Is there really anything to lose by believing that those seemingly insignificant happenings actually do have value and meaning? The answer is no…. By believing in nothing you already have nothing. So by believing in something greater than yourself you have everything to gain. Walking by faith could be the single most magical realization of your life. It will give you the great pleasure of looking back on your life and seeing how every experience lived, every emotion felt & every person that came and went were all necessary to get you to become the person you are & where you are in your life today.
More specific to this painting’s subject matter I must explain where she is in order for it to make sense to you like it does to me. The location I took this photo from is an entrance ramp to Interstate 66. So the fact that the little girl is alone on an entrance ramp to a highway is alarming. Yet she is running with the ’faith of a child’ toward uncertainty with excitement & anticipation with balloons to help her celebrate what blessings may await her. Does it seem more likely, given her circumstances, that danger may await her instead? Of course, especially if you are thinking with a logical adult brain. A good parent would think, ”We can’t see what is ahead but I am certain if we approach it with a little realistic fear and much caution (maybe even turn around & go the other way) that we will be much better off.” But would we? How much life do we miss by getting scared and running the other way? Wouldn’t we be better off running into the future with the confidence of someone who is certain they are being taken care of even when the future looks uncertain or even dangerous? Sure we will probably fall, get hurt & have a few close calls that teach us that sometimes a little caution is necessary. But that is the whole point of facing life like this little girl. Everything, even the bad things that we want to avoid, teach us things that make us better. So what might feel to you now like you are getting hit by a high speed car might very well teach you something that is necessary in keeping you on your path toward your brightest future. Even more than that, what are we if not our experiences? Taking away those expereinces, some might say, is like taking away our identity. If you are proud of who you have fought to become like I am, you will run into your future with balloons in your hand ready to celebrate whatever is coming, good or bad, because you know your creator has a better view of what’s ahead and a better plan.
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