I have never really enjoyed, nor understood abstract art. It has always appeared to me to seem so helter skelter and unreasonable. To each his own I guess! I have wondered of late, what if God painted in such a fashion? What would the autumn leaves look like? What would each of us look like if the human DNA was so fashioned? What if God in his creative genius failed to make that 1.2% difference in human DNA that separates us from Chimpanzees?
If God, were (is) the “Grand Weaver” and his artistry was not just his fashioning our humanity, but involved “weaving” purpose and glory into each of our lives what would be our involvement in understanding it and engaging with it?
The fatalistic viewpoint is: God is sovereign and whatever happens, good or bad, is his will and there’s nothing I can do about it. Whatever decision I face, whatever choice I make, well, God you had it programmed this way, anyway, right? In this line of thought, God is not weaving anything of value, but playing with puppets without any regard for the welfare of individuals. Abstract art would be how I would describe this viewpoint.
Others would see God as the originator of it all, and leaving it all for us to figure out. That would place us as the artist is this story, and how many of us know anything about art? This idea would totally redefine abstract for sure. If we were left to our own designs- what a mess!
The other alternative is, that God in creating each of us, uniquely shapes us with a purpose and this purpose is like a woven tapestry that takes a lifetime to create. Tapestries may have unique designs or shapes throughout, but ultimately they display thoughtful creativity.
So, again I ask, if God, were (is) the “Grand Weaver” and his artistry was not just his fashioning our humanity, but involved “weaving” purpose and glory into each of our lives what would be our involvement in understanding it and engaging with it?
If you subscribe to the fatalistic view, then you see God as one who doesn’t value relationship. If he is simply the starter of life, and we are the completer of life, then he is detached from life having meaning in any way. If he is the one who infuses life with meaning and purpose then it is imperative that we seek to engage with him to determine HIS purposes for us.
How do we seek to engage with him? How do we seek to understand him and his purposes? Like the movie, “What about Bob?” the answer is simply Baby Steps. Baby Steps like these:
Honor the truth that we know. Picking and choosing what we will and will not obey is a recipe for personal disaster. “to whom you yield yourself as servants to obey, his servant ye are”, Paul wrote the Romans. Determine that your heart and life are worth being honorable toward your creator.
The other step would mean, submission. Now that is a power laden word. Our nature is, as we grow older to tell ourselves that “we are the captain of our own destiny” (Invictus.) Submission to the God, is simply yielding your will to His. Determine in your heart that, if he created you, fashioned you with specific eternal purposes that it is in your best interest to yield yourself and your personal ambition to Him. Naturally, submission ultimately leads to Trust. He is great enough to trust. He is good enough to yield all of yourself to fully.
Love,
Dad
