Metals Class

 I was thinking about this in metals the other day- the way we shine and form our metal pieces isn't through gentle coaxing or rubbing them with plush cloths. We saw them apart, nearly melt them with heat, and bang on them with hammers. Then, to add insult to injury (or beauty to form) we sit there and make thousands of scratches on the surface with files and sandpaper and pushing hard on them with any abrasive thing we can find. But once you buff it, all that abuse and all those scratches turn info the most beautiful mirrored shine you've ever seen.  And it got me to thinking about trusting in God's plan and purpose - He knows the end result He wants and is forming us for before He even begins, and all those dings and bangs and scratches not only make us shine and more beautiful, they also make us mirror Him.

"There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears." Phil 1:6, The Message 

A Genesis Day

Today is one of those days when multiple tangents of thought keep converging back to a common theme. For me, it was a Genesis day. In Plowing in Hope, it talks a lot about Genesis, and what it means for culture  as a whole and our individual work. But I am getting ahead of myself...

At the start of my day I reveled in the glory of an Autumn morning, as I pulled on my suede fringe boots.Fall is my favorite season, because to me, it is more of a rebirth and opening of new opportunity than Spring. I think of the years in terms of school years, and always feel the last one lingers until you start a new one.

I went to the Cooper Young Farmers Market, and delighted in the bounty of the land that these farmers brought into my concrete side of town. It made me think about the time and care that these people put into their craft of growing. I have an undefinable respect for farmers. In many ways, I feel that the Farmer and the Artist are alike - you put in work, you take a leap of faith, you hope something beautiful grows, and then you hope that someone will love the fruits of your labors in equal proportion to the love you put into them. It also made me think about the fact that farming was man's first occupation, and how far most of us have gotten away from it. As a poor college student, I eat a great number of things that come from boxes and are cooked in the microwave. How strange is that ? That we are so far from our food that we only know it by the packages we put it in? But that is another ramble, and something I hope to get better about once I have a real income.

After I got home I ate some of the bread I bought, and sat on the porch watching the light on the plants and listening to the breeze. And I thought about how much time I spend on my iPhone, rather that looking at what is going on in the real world.

I climbed out on the roof, and watched the kids play and worked in my sketchbook, just drawing to draw. And I remembered why I love creating - because that moment, and this day, will forever be etched in my mind because I have recorded it to the page.

Later, I buckled down and worked on what I was supposed to be doing - character and style development sketches. There I met another Genesis thought, as I encountered Toil. Though many people think of art as a product of "talent" or a "gift", or as "something the artist does because they just love it and if they don't create they will explode!"....it is actually about 90% pushing through toil. And the reason you push through that toil is for that 10% moments of pure creation; wanting to express a thought, and for the love of it. But mostly, it is toiling through the curse of the fall, where your work is doing everything BUT what you want it to. I know what I want this to look like. I see other people do it! But for some reason, it is fighting me today. (So now I'm blogging before picking up my pen to do battle once more.)

Then, in that moment, I experienced the Genesis feeling that I hate the most: Loneliness. It is not good for man to be alone, and I find myself there a lot more than I care to admit most of the time. Especially after spending time in the company of my family and friends, I find those moments even a bit more achy. It isn't for anything more than having a companion to share life with. In this case, I found myself once again wishing for a dog, partly because I know a dog will never be too busy for me, and will live with me. Milton is a cool cat, and has been hanging out with me some today, but that is mostly because my windows are open and he likes my bed. We have an interesting relationship...

All of this to say, it is a funny world we live in. It fills your soul with the glimpses of the way things were to be in nature and people in harmony with it, and breaks your heart by throwing you into the gap between where you are, and where your soul longs to go. But to stop toiling, or hoping, or looking, or loving (even if it is only to a grumpy old kitty), is a fate far worse than the struggle.

So I'm going to go cook my sweet potatoes I bought from the farmers, snuggle with Milton, and get back to my sketchbook.