Friday, June 5, 2020 Assignment for You

I have an assignment for you. I can’t actually follow up and make sure you’ve done it, or give you a grade, but I’m counting on you to do it nevertheless.

In our modern lives, we don’t tend to linger on anything for long. So I’m asking you to linger on the photo below. Set a timer for 5 minutes and really give it a good look. Think about what you’re seeing – the detail, the precision, the beauty, the lighting, the contrast in colors, the textures, everything. Does five minutes seem too long?

I recently read a book written by Henri Nouwen. He had seen a painting by Rembrandt called “The Return of the Prodigal Son” and it struck him so forcibly that he got permission to stay in the museum for hours and hours just looking at it. He contemplated, he meditated, he paid attention to details, he thought about the clothing, the colors, the positioning of the characters, the light contrasted with darkness, the expressions on the faces, the emotions represented… I’ve been to museums – the longest I’ve ever given any particular painting is perhaps 2 minutes.

So here’s a painting that you might have given scant attention to, the kind of artwork that we see all the time, but never really SEE. Take a look. What do you see? What does it tell you? Take notes, write a poem, try drawing it, identify it, start your own nature journal… the possibilities are endless!

And then give glory to the Artist that made it.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.